Apple of my eye

[1092] Bad egg

🎲 Big cheese
English Idioms
All Idioms

Explanation

  • A bad person; someone who is dishonest, untrustworthy, or generally causes trouble.

Origin

  • Comes from the literal experience of cracking open an egg only to find it rotten.
  • A rotten egg looks normal on the outside but is unpleasant and useless (or worse) on the inside.
  • The term transfers this idea of hidden unpleasantness or corruption to a person's character.

Synonyms & Related Expressions

  • Bad apple (Very similar, implies spoiling others)
  • Rotten apple
  • Troublemaker
  • Scoundrel (Dated)
  • Good-for-nothing
  • Shady character
  • Snake in the grass (Deceitful person)

Alternatives

Slang/Informal:

  • Asshole (Vulgar)
  • Jerk
  • Scumbag (Vulgar)
  • Dirtbag (Vulgar)
  • Shady AF (AF = as fuck; Vulgar slang, meaning very shady/untrustworthy)
  • Sketchy dude/chick

Milder:

  • Not a nice person
  • Untrustworthy
  • Problematic

More Formal:

  • Unscrupulous individual
  • Person of poor character
  • Malefactor (Rare, very formal)

Situational Appropriateness

  • Informal.
  • Use with caution, as it's a direct negative judgment of someone's character.

Misunderstanding Warnings

  • Figurative. Doesn't involve literal eggs. Learners need to connect it to bad character.

Examples

  • Stay away from him; he's a bad egg.
  • There are a few bad eggs in that company, but most people are great.
  • He seemed nice at first, but he turned out to be a real bad egg.

Dialogue

Manager 1: How's the new hire working out?

Manager 2: Honestly, I'm a bit concerned. He's been caught cutting corners and blaming others. I'm starting to think he's a bit of a bad egg.

Manager 1: We need to keep an eye on that. Document everything.

Social Media Examples

  • Forum Post: Warning about user [Username] seems like a bad egg, tried to scam me in a trade. #scamalert
  • Tweet: Every group has a bad egg eventually. The key is how the rest of the group deals with it. #community #management
  • Facebook Comment: Heard about what happened with Dave? Always knew he was a bad egg.

Response Patterns

  • Really? What did they do?
  • Good to know, thanks for the warning.
  • I thought there was something off about him/her.
  • That's a shame.

Common Follow-up Questions/Actions

  • Asking for specific reasons or examples of the person's bad behavior.
  • Deciding to avoid or be wary of the person.
  • Discussing the person's negative impact.

Conversation Starter

  • No. Used to describe or warn about a specific person.

Intonation

  • Emphasis on BAD EGG.
  • Usually said with a tone of disapproval, warning, or disappointment.

Generation Differences

  • Widely understood, but sounds slightly old-fashioned. Bad apple is perhaps more common currently.

Regional Variations

  • Common in most English-speaking regions.
Apple of my eye
🎲 Big cheese