Big Bad Wolf
2
3.2
- noun
- Literature
:
el Lobo Feroz
- The children dressed up as the Big Bad Wolf for the school play based on classic fairy tales.
Examples
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It was the Big Bad Wolf, she testifies, lifting her dress to show me her scars.
Fiction book (1994) -
The Big Bad Wolf is attacking me.
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Surely I'm no match for the Big Bad Wolf.
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Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
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You're afraid because I'm the... the Big Bad Wolf.
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Anyhoo, looks like, yet again, the Big Bad Wolf got outsmarted by a little piggy.
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In the story, the Big Bad Wolf tried to trick Little Red Riding Hood into revealing her location.
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The legend of the Big Bad Wolf teaches lessons about courage and cleverness.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward combination of 'big' + 'bad' + 'wolf', so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer a large, dangerous or villainous wolf; the meaning is descriptive rather than metaphorically opaque. Although it also functions as a conventional character name in folklore, the overall sense is directly derivable from the parts and thus readily comprehensible.
Etymology
Big Bad Wolf comes from old children's stories such as 'The Three Little Pigs' and 'Little Red Riding Hood', where a large, mean wolf threatens the characters. Because the wolf is literally big and bad, the name became a simple way to call someone 'a scary villain'.