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EyeSeeYou Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary
Idiom for someone who's hard to please?
Is there an idiom in English that conveys the idea that someone is hard to please? In Spanish that kind of person is referred to as a "gata flora".
Browsing the web, I stumbled upon a fórum where a native English speaker suggested the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary would be the equivalent; however, I couln't find any apparent relation nor even an interpretation that indicated so.
Thanks.
Browsing the web, I stumbled upon a fórum where a native English speaker suggested the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary would be the equivalent; however, I couln't find any apparent relation nor even an interpretation that indicated so.
Thanks.
Top answer
Hard to please is pretty much the usual phrase. Contrary in the "Mary Mary" sense implies perverse , contradictory for the sake of being contradictory, perhaps inconsistently. Picky , choosy and finicky all suggest that someone will not accept something if it isn't exactly to their liking.
- Hard to please is pretty much the usual phrase.
- Contrary in the "Mary Mary" sense implies perverse , contradictory for the sake of being contradictory, perhaps inconsistently.
- Picky , choosy and finicky all suggest that someone will not accept something if it isn't exactly to their liking.
- Captious denotes nit-picking or looking to find fault.
- Gata flora.
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3 Answers
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Hard to please is pretty much the usual phrase. Contrary in the "Mary Mary" sense implies perverse, contradictory for the sake of being contradictory, perhaps inconsistently.
Picky, choosy and finicky all suggest that someone will not accept something if it isn't exactly to their liking.
Captious
Picky, choosy and finicky all suggest that someone will not accept something if it isn't exactly to their liking.
Captious
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I've found this one, using the adjective 'finicky': He/she is as finicky as a cat.
Flora may be the name of the cat or the owner of the cat (the former most likely); anyway, Flora was chosen to make the adage rhyme (flora and llora). This proverb is used in Argentina mainly. It's kind of kinky, though there's one far racier.
"Está como la Gata Flora, q
Flora may be the name of the cat or the owner of the cat (the former most likely); anyway, Flora was chosen to make the adage rhyme (flora and llora). This proverb is used in Argentina mainly. It's kind of kinky, though there's one far racier.
"Está como la Gata Flora, q
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Hi
A phrase used in English, imported from Italian, is prima donna
The main meaning is neutral and just means "lead female opera singer"
But it is also used to mean a person who is temperamental and who expects privileged treatment
Dave
A phrase used in English, imported from Italian, is prima donna
The main meaning is neutral and just means "lead female opera singer"
But it is also used to mean a person who is temperamental and who expects privileged treatment
Dave
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