Intermediate

Read the article aloud on your own or repeat each paragraph after your tutor.

Snakes, Wolves and Wool: How to Describe Deceit

The English writer Noël Coward once wrote that it is sad to see "how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit."

​

Deceit means keeping the truth hidden, often to get an advantage. Coward was probably saying that people aren't shocked by deceit because they see it so often.

​

And there are probably as many ways to describe deceit as there are ways to deceive someone!

​

If you're "talking behind someone's back" you might not be trying to deceive them, but it does mean you're talking about them in secret — and the things you're saying probably aren't very nice.

​

You can also "go behind someone's back" and do something without their knowledge.

​

If you're doing this, you might be described as "a snake in the grass." This describes someone who acts friendly, but will do anything to get what they want.

​

They might even "stab you in the back" — act like your friend, then do something to hurt you.

​

If they're not a snake, they might be "a wolf in sheep's clothing."

​

This expression is thought to be thousands of years old. It was used in the Bible, and also by the Greek storyteller Aesop in a story about a wolf who dressed in the skin of a sheep to trick the other sheep and eat them.

​

Now we use it about someone who looks harmless — like a sheep — but plans to hurt us, like a wolf.

People who wish to deceive may also try to "pull the wool over our eyes."

​

It's thought this expression was first used in the 19th century, when some people wore wool wigs. 

​

If someone pulled your wig down you wouldn't be able to see what was really happening — and it would be easy to trick you.

 Further Discussion

Have a discussion based on the following questions.