Types of people

[linguoboy]

English is regularly singled out for the size of its vocabulary, but it's often struck me that there are some conspicuous gaps. Despite the varied means of wordsmithing in English and the creativity of its speakers, there seem to be fewer words for different types of people than in other languages I'm familiar with, such as French, Korean, or Irish. Moreover, those words which do exist often sound childish or slangy rather than simply informal or colloquial.

So here's my attempt to make a list of common terms for people who are characterised by certain behaviours or personality traits. It's of necessity rather Americocentric, so I encourage speakers of other varieties to make additions and suggestions. My rule of thumb for terms derived from proper names is "Would a speaker understand a term without necessarily getting the reference?" (That is, I think the average English-speaker knows what an "Einstein" or a "Pollyanna" is whether or not they could tell who was Albert Einstein or Eleanor H. Porter.)

bore
busybody
cassandra
Chicken Little
class clown/cut-up
coward/fraidy cat/scaredy cat
crusader
egghead/intellectual
Einstein/genius
fussbudget
geek/nerd/grind/pointdexter
jobsworth
jock
lazybones/layabout
liar
mallingerer
martyr
narcissist
nervous nelly
petty tyrant/little dictator
pollyanna
prude
psychic vampire
schoolmarm
shirker/malingerer
slag/slut
slob
slowpoke/slowcoach
snoop
snitch/tattletale
social butterfly
stoner/pothead
wimp/wuss
womaniser
worrywart

[Bijlee]

Are these the kinds of words you're looking for? I added: prep, couch potato, player, peeping tom, bluestocking, priss, cat lady, city slicker, redneck, valley girl, sugar daddy, cougar, gold digger, penny pincher, cheapskate, skirt chaser, hipster

bluestocking
bore
busybody
cassandra
cat lady
Chicken Little
city slicker
class clown/cut-up
coward/fraidy cat/scaredy cat
crusader
cougar
egghead/intellectual
Einstein/genius
fussbudget
geek/nerd/grind/pointdexter
gold digger
hipster
jobsworth
jock
lazybones/layabout/couch potato
liar
mallingerer
martyr
narcissist
nervous nelly
peeping tom
penny pincher/cheapskate
petty tyrant/little dictator
player
pollyanna
prep
prude/ priss
psychic vampire
redneck
schoolmarm
shirker/malingerer
slag/slut
slob
slowpoke/slowcoach
snoop
snitch/tattletale
social butterfly
stoner/pothead
sugar daddy
valley girl
wimp/wuss
womaniser/ skirt chaser
worrywart

[telruen]

Here are some words you guys missed:

average Joe
bitch/cunt
character
charmer
copycat
crybaby
(Debby) downer
dork
doubting Thomas
dreamer
dumbass/idiot/dope
dweeb
fool
gentleman
good-time Charlie
go-getter
hermit
hero
hothead
jack of all trades
jerk/prick/asshole
joker
klutz
leader
maneater
maniac
maverick
mess
monster
nag
negative Nancy
nervous Nelly
nightmare
pig
plain Jane
prima donna
pro
sissy
sweetheart
tomboy
trouper

[Dormouse559]

Here are a few that I could think of. But is there anything else to this thread besides wordlists? Maybe you could tell us some of the gaps that stand out to you? Then others could give English translations they know of.

adrenaline junkie
airhead
brainiac
cheapskate
diva
fashionista
foodie
has-been
ne'er-do-well
party pooper
rubberneck
sheep
slacker
snob
wallflower
wannabe

[linguoboy]

What prompted this train of thought was a National Film Board of Canada documentary which explained that the literal meaning of one of the Inuktitut terms initially applied to Whites was "person who is impatient, person who wants things to happen right now".

I'm glad someone posted "hothead". My spouse and I were racking our brains for "person who is quick to anger" and came up with nothing better than "choleric".

[Ciarán12]

So here's my attempt to make a list of common terms for people who are characterised by certain behaviours or personality traits. It's of necessity rather Americocentric, so I encourage speakers of other varieties to make additions and suggestions. My rule of thumb for terms derived from proper names is "Would a speaker understand a term without necessarily getting the reference?" (That is, I think the average English-speaker knows what an "Einstein" or a "Pollyanna" is whether or not they could tell who was Albert Einstein or Eleanor H. Porter.)

I do not know what a "pollyanna" is (and indeed, I don't know who Elenor H. Porter is either).

cassandra
Chicken Little
jobsworth
pollyanna
psychic vampire
shirker
social butterfly

I am not farmiliar with any of these.

bluestocking

Nor this.

rubberneck

Are we including insults? There are lots. Also, I could list of at least a dozen that are not only specific to Ireland, but refer to stereotypes that no-one outside of Ireland would be familiar with. And a ton more that are shared between Irish English and British English (well, English English, I'm sure there are tons of specific ones to other parts of Britain I don't know about).
Just wondering about the scope of this, I don't want to spam this thing with words no-one understands...

[Dormouse559]

I do not know what a "pollyanna" is (and indeed, I don't know who Elenor H. Porter is either).

It's of necessity rather Americocentric, so I encourage speakers of other varieties to make additions and suggestions.

So he probably meant that the average speaker of that variety would recognize the term.

rubberneck

A person who cranes their neck to look at something, particularly while driving

[Ciarán12]

I do not know what a "pollyanna" is (and indeed, I don't know who Elenor H. Porter is either).

It's of necessity rather Americocentric, so I encourage speakers of other varieties to make additions and suggestions.

So he probably meant that the average speaker of that variety would recognize the term.

So, do we include things exclusive to other varieties then? It goes back to the spamming issue I mentioned. I mean, I've seen whole dictionaries of Hiberno-English in which precisely this kind of word (that is, nouns that describe a kind of person) are extremely prevelent.

rubberneck

A person who cranes their neck to look at something, particularly while driving

I see.

[Dormouse559]

So, do we include things exclisive to other varieties then? It goes back to the spamming issue I mentioned. I mean, I've seen whole dictionaries of Hiberno-English in which precisely this kind of word (that is, nouns that describe a kind of person) are extremely prevelent.

I interpreted it as adding terms you know. That's what I did, and apparently my list is rather understandable to an Irish English speaker. I suppose insults are fair game, insofar as many terms describe negative traits.

[Ciarán12]

So, do we include things exclisive to other varieties then? It goes back to the spamming issue I mentioned. I mean, I've seen whole dictionaries of Hiberno-English in which precisely this kind of word (that is, nouns that describe a kind of person) are extremely prevelent.

I interpreted it as adding terms you know. That's what I did, and apparently my list is rather understandable to an Irish English speaker. I suppose insults are fair game, insofar as many terms describe negative traits.

Fair enough so. This list has absolutely no order to it of any kind:

Knacker/skanger
Culchie/Bogger/Muck-savage
Amadán
Tinker
Traveller
Gypsy (and its derivative "Gypo")
Scumbag
Eejit
fecker
hardman/tough guy
dosser
gurrier
loud mouth
pikey
rapscallion
chancer
berk
twat
git
moron
pillock
prat
weirdo
bastard
minger
patsy
ruffian
weeaboo/wap
wigger
noob/noobie
rocker
hobo
homo/puff/puffter/poof/poofter/gay(as a noun)/fag/faggot
looder
lacky
ape
animal
philanderer
West-Brit
pup
thick (pronounce (and sometimes spelt) as "tick")
little shit/shite
looper/headcase/mentaler/mentalist
twig
pick
big-girl's-blouse
quack
brown-noser
bollocks
buffoon
wanker
wiseman
clever-clogs
scrounger
sloth
waster
prick
tubbo
poshy
mini-rocker
teenie-bopper
gobshite
Jackeen
Legend/Leg(/lɛdʒ)/Leg-bag (lɛdʒbæg)
Cute whore ("whore" pronounced as /hɪ̯u:ɚ/)
D4
Frigit
bellend
wagon
hooligan
MILF
scallywag
pushover
groupie
kiss-ass
punk

[linguoboy]

Are we including insults?

I wasn't because I don't perceive much difference in denotation between them. One slang dictionary I have even uses the abbreviation "g.t.a" or "general term of abuse" for a wide range of terms from "asshole" to "wanker".

That's not to say that many of the words I and others listed aren't insulting, rather that that's secondary to their descriptive purpose. No one likes being called a "loudmouth", but you simply wouldn't apply it to someone who didn't talk in a loud voice.

[Matt/terrapod]

Brown-nose
(nicer term for kiss-ass)