Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
“I am a poster child for, ‘Don’t judge someone by their looks.’ I think it’s about the person, about their sense of humor and their personality.”
- Actress Drew Barrymore on what she looks for in a guy. (people.com)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
someone who is a perfect example of something
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
You’d think a beautiful celebrity like Drew Barrymore would only date other beautiful celebrities, right? But she insists that she doesn’t care only about looks. She thinks that being funny and smart and having a great personality are more important than looking good. And from what we can tell, she’s not lying. She was once married to Tom Green, a funny but rather unattractive comedian. And she talks all the time about how much she loves talk show host David Letterman, who probably won’t win Sexiest Man Alive any time soon.
Drew Barrymore thinks physical beauty is so unimportant, she says that she is the poster child for not caring about looks. She’s the perfect example of that idea.
The term poster child originally referred to a little girl or boy with some disease, whose picture would be put on posters in order to raise money or get more sympathy for other people living with that disease. In that case, poster children were perfect examples of innocent lives being affected by a terrible disease.
Nowadays, you can be a poster child for anything, as long as you perfectly represent that cause or concept. You can even be a poster child for something bad. For example, a poster child for the dangers of drinking, perfectly represents why it is dangerous to drink. They might have serious health problems or have lost their friends, family, and job because of their drinking problem. It would be much better to be a poster child for drinking as much as you want without ever getting sick.
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“James is a poster child for quitting smoking. Ever since he quit, he feels so much better. “
“She was a poster child for the importance of getting a college education.”