“Slouch” / “no slouch”
Posted by Sunil Jose on March 8, 2009
`slouch’ means to walk about with one’s shoulders and head bent. The word refers to one’s posture.”
Examples, “The young programmer was slouched over the computer.”* “Last night Sujatha slouched past me with her hands in her kurta.” * “Sujata slouches even when she is sitting down.”
“When you say that someone is `no slouch’ at something, what you mean is that the individual is very good at it. It’s an expression mostly used in informal contexts. ”
“My neighbour is no slouch at painting.” * “My tennis partner is a pretty huge guy. But he is no slouch at the net.”
Calicocentric said
“The young programmer was slouched over the computer.”
Funny sentence! What the hell does that mean? Can’t a language columnist see the difference between a transitive verb and intransitive verb? I have a feeling that this guy can’t write decent English and he has been writing an English language column in a national daily for many years!
Calicocentric said
Returning after a few months to correct myself. Deriding the columnist for that example was certainly my fault. The verb is of course intransitive but it is not a passive construction. It is only be + past participle as adjective. I regret my harsh words here, although the columnist would deserve them elsewhere.