to call oneself an eejit
- idiom
- Slang
:
llamarse un tonto
- After locking his keys in the car, he called himself an eejit and laughed it off.
Examples
-
They called themselves eejits for forgetting to double-check the tickets before leaving.
-
Don't call yourself an eejit just because you made a mistake!
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She called herself an eejit for trusting the obvious email scam.
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Why do you call yourself an eejit when you make a mistake?
-
After locking his keys in the car, he called himself an eejit and laughed it off.
-
She called herself an eejit for trusting the obvious email scam.
-
Don't call yourself an eejit just because you made a mistake!
How Self-critical
- Slur
483
8.1
- Slang
- Offensive
∞
1.4
505
1.3
88
2.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'call' (refer to), 'oneself' (reflexive), 'an' (indefinite article) + 'eejit' (a foolish person) combine to mean 'describe/admit oneself to be foolish.' While 'eejit' is regional/colloquial (chiefly Irish), if a B1 learner knows the constituent meanings the overall sense is immediately predictable.
Etymology
Call oneself an eejit comes from Irish English, where eejit is a friendly way to say 'idiot'. People often use it while laughing at their own small mistake, so it means 'to admit you were foolish'.