A sentence I don't understand

Question

I was seeing an English drama and there some guy says "He is an arsekicker is what he is"

Actually, I've seen this sort of sentences quit often in movies and dramas.

I was wondering someone could explain how this expression is made grammatically or idimatically.

Hrsanei · Accepted Answer

Hi. Welcome to English Forums.

It can be either:

He is an arsekicker

or arsekicker is what he is

I am not familiar with the word arsekicker, you might have misheard the word, it might be arselicker which means apple polisher.

Regards

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The poster heard the language correctly. It is quite rude language.

In sports, the expression means to really play hard and aggressively against the opposing team and defeat them.

CalifJim · Answer

zzang418leeHe is an arsekicker is what he is

This is slang. It's an ungrammatical combination of two sentences.

He is an arsekicker. An arsekicker is what he is.

You can take it as the equivalent of this: He is an arsekicker. That's what he is.

Or: I'll tell you what he is. He's an arsekicker.

It's a very emphatic way of offering your opinion about someone's character.

You form these slang constructions by adding an "is what ..." clause after a normal equative sentence.

She's a dope is what she is.

They're ignorant is what they are.

You're a pushover is what you are.

You can only use these in extremely casual conversation. I don't recommend spending any time perfecting your mastery of such expressions!

CJ

Zzang418lee · Answer

Thanks all. I really appreciate it:)

A sentence I don't understand

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