to suffer fools gladly
2
9.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
tolerar a los tontos
- Io doesn't suffer fools gladly, and he's used up his allotment of luck.
He did not suffer fools gladly at all.
- He did not suffer fools gladly at all.
Examples
-
It's hard to work with him because he doesn't suffer fools gladly and often dismisses anyone who makes a mistake.
-
And she doesn't suffer fools gladly.
-
He simply could not suffer fools gladly.
Academic text (1997) -
They should suffer fools gladly and be grateful for them.
Academic text (1999) -
As my therapist put it, diplomatically, "You don't suffer fools gladly."
Blog text (7) -
He's a straightforward, old-fashioned military officer that doesn't suffer fools gladly.
-
In her position as a manager, she firmly believes that you shouldn't have to suffer fools gladly if you want to maintain a professional environment.
-
At the conference, she admitted that she had little patience for people who make poor choices and does not suffer fools gladly.
Synonyms
To accept someone's annoying or foolish behavior without complaining
Antonyms
How Patient
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase's meaning ('to tolerate people regarded as foolish') is largely derivable from 'suffer' (in the sense 'to tolerate'), 'fools', and 'gladly' ('willingly'), so there is clear compositional basis. However, the tolerant sense of 'suffer' is less salient for many learners and the phrase is a fixed, somewhat formal idiom (often used in the negative), so the exact pragmatic nuance is not fully predictable.
Etymology
Suffer fools gladly comes from older English where suffer meant 'to put up with' and fools meant silly people. Picture someone smiling and letting a foolish person talk, and you see why to suffer fools gladly means 'to be patient with' people who act foolishly.