down to earth
2017.04.05
Meaning:
‘down to earth’ is a positive way to describe someone. It means someone who doesn’t pretend to be special. The expression probably comes from an old, old European belief that there were 4 main personality types: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Water types are sensitive, Fire types are passionate, Air types are full of ideas and Earth types are practical. Nowadays we often use ‘down-to-earth’ to describe famous people if we think they are still ‘normal’, even after becoming famous.
Example:
A: I met Matt Damon once.
B: Did you? What was he like?
A: Really down to earth. He changed his baby’s nappy in front of me! He just seemed like a really regular, nice guy. He treated the cleaners as nicely as he treated the Director.
Talking Point(s):
Are you down to earth? If you became rich, would you still be down to earth?
大人からの英会話getgo 西船橋・荻窪・津田沼・本八幡