In this video from Idioms Online, I'm going to explain the meaning of five English idioms
about generosity.
These are idioms that express how a person is generous.
Since generosity is a character trait, these are all idioms that can be considered character
idioms and, as such, they are only a few of the many idioms about human character, good,
bad, or even neutral.
The first idiom is A Giving Person A giving person is a person who gives a lot of his
or her time, attention, help, money, possessions, etc. to others.
This idiom is not about giving any specific material object but is used to describe a
person who gives of themselves often and habitually.
Example: "Megan is such a giving person.
She's always volunteering or doing charity work."
Generous to a Fault To a fault means excessively; much more than necessary or, perhaps more
than is wise.
This can be applied to other things besides generosity but it's always applied to character
traits that are considered good, but more than is considered necessary.
For example, a person can be honest to a fault.
It is most often heard in the present idiom, generous to a fault, however.
So, to be generous to a fault means to be too generous; to give more than one should,
to a degree that is harmful to oneself.
Example: "Tim is generous to a fault.
He will give away his rent money if someone needs it!"
The next idiom is Give the Shirt off One's Back I've already done a full video for that
idiom so you can click on your screen to view that video now.
To give someone the shirt off your (or one's) back is to give anything and everything you
have; to be extremely generous and helpful; to be willing to sacrifice to help others.
Example: "Chris is the nicest guy I know.
He'd give you the shirt off his back."
Give of Oneself I've already used this idiom in a previous meaning.
See if you can go back and spot where I've used it.
To give of oneself is to be generous with one's time or skill and to give it freely,
especially to help others or in pursuit of an unselfish cause.
Example: "I believe that the best way to live a good life is to give of yourself.
The rewards are greater than you imagine."
The last idiom is Put Others First To put others first means to consider the needs of
other people before your own; to do things for other people before you do anything for
yourself.
This idiom is often used in a more specific sense, with specific people being inserted
such as 'put family first' or 'put one's children first.'
For example: "I believe in putting my children first.
I'll gladly go without to keep them healthy and happy."
Another more general example: "The more you learn to put others first, the happier you
will be."
That's all the idioms for this video.
But, what idioms are the opposite of generosity idioms?
The opposite would be idioms that express selfishness or being self-centered.
There are a number of English idioms about selfishness and I'll go over them in a separate
video.
As a bonus in this video, I'd like to focus on a curious idiom that even native speakers
may not recognize as an idiom: me, me, me.
"I can't stand Mike.
With him, it's always me, me me."
So, in other words, Mike doesn't think of other people, only himself.
He is self-centered and selfish.
He is a "me, me, me" person.
Now, you may think that the idea of Millenials being self-centered is a novel occurrence,
but it's nothing new!
Why, my entire generation was considered me, me, me.
Those of us born between 1950 and 1970 were sometimes called the Me Generation!