Jerk

Idiom: Jerk - Used as a noun

 Example 1:

Tina: I cannot stand Kevin. He is such a JERK!

Selma: Wait a minute….I thought you were dating him and everything was wonderful!

Tina: Yes, we have been dating for about two months, but he is still a JERK! I just found out that he has been dating two other girls at that same time! No wonder he was always late picking me up for our dates.  He told me that I was the only girl for him and I believed him!

Selma: Wow! He is a jerk. Why don’t you just break up with him and go out with a nice guy for a change?

Tina: Well, I don’t know…maybe I should give Kevin one more chance. Even though he’s a jerk, he is still a lot of fun to be around.

Selma: OK….If that’s what you want. I still think you should look for someone else.

Tina: Well, I’ll think about it. See you later.

Example 2:

Kitty: My professor is such a jerk! Half of the time he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Then, he gets mad at the class if we don’t understand him.

Jolene: Really? I heard that his class is really interesting. Are you talking about Professor Jones who teaches American History?

Kitty: Yes! He’s so mean and doesn’t listen to any of our questions. Plus, his tests are impossible to complete. I think he really just wants to flunk everyone in class. He doesn’t care about his students at all!

Jolene: It’s so hard to believe that we are talking about the same professor.

Kitty: Well, we are and he’s a big jerk. Believe me! He doesn’t care about the students and only thinks about himself and his academic career. The other day, he left class early just to be interviewed on TV!

 Jolene: Wow! He sounds like a jerk. I wonder what happened to make him change so much.

 Kitty: I don’t know, but I’m really thinking about dropping his class.

Meaning:
A “jerk” is a word used to describe people who are mean, selfish, or foolish. In the first example, Tina’s boyfriend went out with other girls when they were dating and didn’t tell her. In the second example, the professor is selfish and is only thinking about himself while treating the students really poorly.

This idiom can be found in the LSI textbook Speaking Savvy, Unit 7, Part 1. This book is used at LSI schools in the level 5 Listening/Speaking classes. For more information, please visit: www.languagesystems.com