ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

Don’t patronize me! 别把我當傻瓜 - 每日一辭(英) 

Patronize (把人當傻瓜)

= to talk to others in a way as if they were ignorant or stupid.

= to treat others as if they were a child and were less intelligent or knowledgeable than you.

= to treat others in a condescending way

Don’t patronize me! 别把我當傻瓜 

= Don’t take me for a fool!

Patronizing is very similar to condescending.

Condescending is to look down at others, talking to them in an insulting way like they were inferior idiots.

Patronizing is to talk to other people pretending or assuming in a nice way but sometimes seems sarcastic, which makes others feel like you think that they are ignorant or stupid and less intelligent or knowledgeable than you.

A perfect example of patronizing is what Ma does all the time, thinking of himself as far more superior to his people and treating them as if they are ignorant and stupid.

For example:

Ma said to the aborigines, “I see you as a human being, so I am going to educate you. I am going to give you some opportunities. When you come here, you must play by our rules.” This was an act of patronizing, looking down at the aborigines, assuming that they were , uncivilized and uneducated.

John’s colleague, Susan, a fresh graduate, said to him, “This is far too complicated for you to understand.”   John replied, “Don’t patronize me. I have been in this field for over 20 years.”

To patronize others is to tell them what they have already known.

To patronize others is to treat others like they are inferior idiots.

By the way, "patronize" has another meaning.  If you want to find out the other meaning, please look up the dictionary.  In English, a word could have several different meanings. 

Written by Elisa English

On August 11th, 2013