Learn English with English, baby!

Join for FREE!

 
fruitcake

fruitcake

Date: Dec 27 2007

Category: Slang

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“There was one painting critic…he’s a bit of an old fruitcake, but he said I shouldn’t be allowed to [paint]. But I don’t really listen to him.”

- Former Beatle Paul McCartney on the response to his attempts at painting. (Reader’s Digest)

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

crazy, insane

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

It’s two days after Christmas, so fruitcakes everywhere are severely discounted. You could probably go to a store right now and get four fruitcakes for the price of one. Then you could save them all year until Christmas next year and give them as gifts! What a great idea!

Well, not really. But it’s one that’s tried often enough that it’s common to joke about receiving a stale fruitcake for Christmas. Fruitcake is sweet bread with dried fruit and nuts in it and it’s tasty when fresh. But after a year it’s not so good (though, strangely enough, still edible).

You probably already know that to say someone is “nuts” means that he or she is crazy. Since fruitcakes have nuts in them, people started saying, “You’re as nutty as a fruitcake,” when someone did something strange. The expression was so popular that now you can just call someone crazy a fruitcake.

Since Paul McCartney is famous for being a musician, people thought it was rather strange when he started painting. His work was shown in some galleries and liked by some, but one critic disliked it so much that he joked that McCartney shouldn’t be allowed to paint.

The comment didn’t hurt McCartney’s feelings though. He thinks the critic is just an “old fruitcake.” That means he’s both nutty and stale!

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

“I always see my neighbor talking to himself. He’s a complete fruitcake.”

“Oh man, you don’t want to date that girl. She’s always drunk and yelling. A total fruitcake.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

Big baby Besides a cake fruitcake is a crazy, psycho, mental person.
by Big babySuper Member!
a crazy person
by panggerm
ljiljana it means, i think, that the person doesn't have it all together; crazy; nuts;
by ljiljana
MWang strange person or eccentric people.
by MWang
Vikky McCartney said that that critic is a strange, mad man.)) fruitcake - mad, eccentric and even homosexual)) but it's a cake with fruit too)
by Vikky
Red-Onyx fruitcake is someone who seems to be mentally ill or behaves in a strange way
by Red-Onyx
oddball;eccentric;nutcase
by Austinpowers
crazy person
by anetka77
laotao weirdo 古怪的人
by laotao
i guess that it is crazy person.
by Fariohermit
crazy person
by patricia_divina_velasquez
Zhang Yang A crazy or an eccentric person
by Zhang Yang
Crazy person, nut, loony.
by LuisAntonio
yura1987 perhaps, it means that he's crazy, loony.
by yura1987
Eng_Eager Fruitcake means: unusual or odd person
by Eng_Eager
Kay-Anna I think it means like, crazy...or not in right state of mind
by Kay-Anna
earthlost fruitcake means madman/madwoman
by earthlost
he is a strange man,his behaviour is strange
by xuefenbunny
zwfl It mean something illness of thinking.
by zwfl
a crazy person =)
by panggerm
Mendicus I guess an fruitcake means a nutty person whom should not be taken seriously.
by Mendicus
liru A crazy or an eccentric person
by liru
very stupid, foolish, insane; a mad or an eccentric person; a homo-sexual or someone unsecure in his masculinity
by 永恒破灭者
MVP to behave in a strange way
by MVP

Want to guess next week's slang?

Comments

Log in to Comment

| 02:40 AM May 12 2010 | Reply

ramin145

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

leaving the country is such a fruitcake idea

| 09:38 PM Dec 22 2008 | Reply

莫言~丫头

China

We have no this culture like fruitcake. But it looks like delicious!

| 10:02 PM Jan 01 2008 | Reply

Pink Angel

Pink Angel

Saudi Arabia

coooool it’s cool

| 02:48 AM Jan 01 2008 | Reply

viral_28

Kenya

cool lesson

| 10:01 PM Dec 31 2007 | Reply

mxl1997

China

as we all known, it’s a good place to make a friend ,so i’m coming

| 09:23 AM Dec 30 2007 | Reply

MissROSY

MissROSY

Saudi Arabia

ohh,i dint noe dat fruitcake could hav such a meaning.well i guess it means an essentric,nutty person whoz mentally retarded

| 03:27 AM Dec 30 2007 | Reply

maria_richard

Pakistan

a person who act freakish or weirdly

| 02:05 PM Dec 29 2007 | Reply

yonghuaqiu@126.com

China

FRUITCAKE is not bad word .but the food sounds good..So.when you have eaten too much FRUITCAKE haha..you’ll be a complete FRUITCAKE.be carefull

| 05:25 AM Dec 29 2007 | Reply

gresa

gresa

Albania

fruitcake I think is used for a person who is lunatic,mad,stupid etc

| 05:58 AM Dec 28 2007 | Reply

daomai

daomai

Viet Nam

NICE LESSON

| 05:19 AM Dec 28 2007 | Reply

jazzygirl_1991

United States

fruitcake is a mentally unstable person.

| 10:44 PM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

abdeeq

abdeeq

Somalia

Good Lesson

| 09:01 PM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

Tilda

Tilda

China

I want to be a little fruitcake ,but i can’t. I’d like it’s really a cake

| 07:44 PM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

sabrina99

sabrina99

China

i thinke fruitcake means:eccentric \ preen oneself and slimy.

| 06:27 PM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

caritoo

caritoo

Argentina

not normal person..but with a point

| 04:33 PM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

trungphamhuy

Viet Nam

i ll try to remember this word, dont let me tell you are .!.

| 02:35 PM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

iv4ix

iv4ix

Latvia

fruicake for me is crazy,insane person,who thing that he is the best

| 09:31 AM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

diegothex

diegothex

Peru

yes totally crazy

| 05:19 AM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

mahmoudjeexaa

Somalia

the Word of FRUITCAKE is awesome, I let it to call the CAKE but I don’t wanna to use it like CRAZY funny

| 04:29 AM Dec 27 2007 | Reply

Happyeng

Happyeng

China

I learn it now.