Jiaying Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Jiaying…
Rob … and I’m Rob. Do you know someone who is disorganised or forgetful? We have a word to describe them – it’s ‘scatterbrain’.
Jiaying ‘Scatterbrain’. It’s a word that paints a picture of someone’s brain full of information that’s spread randomly within it – it’s scattered and disorganised.
Rob ‘Scatterbrain’ is sometimes used jokingly with people you know. So, if you have a friend who always loses things or forgets things, you can call them a ‘scatterbrain’. That’s the noun. The adjective is ‘scatterbrained’.
Jiaying My roommate is scatterbrained! She locked herself out of her house yesterday because she left her keys at home!
Rob Oh, I do that all the time. Luckily, my neighbour has a spare key.
Jiaying So, you’re a scatterbrain too! Let’s hear about some more scatterbrains in these examples…
Examples She forgot my birthday again. She’s such a scatterbrain!
Oh, I’m such a scatterbrain – I know I put the tickets somewhere safe and now I can’t remember where they are!
He’s so scatterbrained – he can’t remember where he left his wallet.
** Jiaying** This is The English We Speak, and we’re looking at the word ‘scatterbrain’. It describes someone who is forgetful, disorganised or who doesn’t think clearly.
Rob Similar words include ‘birdbrain’, ‘empty-headed’ or ‘ditzy’. But I like scatterbrain because of its almost literal meaning. And let’s be honest, a scatterbrain only forgets small things that can be annoying – they get sorted in the end.
Jiaying Like forgetting your front door key! I hope you didn’t forget it today – I’m coming round for tea later.
Rob Ooops! I think I have.
Jiaying Scatterbrain! See you next time.
Rob Bye.