Top Language: Are you a little flaky?

A spoon containing breakfast cereal flakes, part of a strawberry, and milk is held in midair against a blue background. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I know you’ve heard the word flake before because it is often related to snow as in snow flake. We define it as a small thin piece of something that have little or no weight. Another example that you may recognize is Cornflakes breakfast cereal.

This word took on a derivative meaning along the years to mean a strange and unusual person or a person that you can’t count on.

At the office, we can refer to people who are not reliable, dishonest & inconsistent by saying they are flakes.

The adjective for this noun is flaky.

Let’s look at these words in context so you can remember to use them in various scenarios:

• Sandra has all the best intentions but she is a flake.
• Marco is usually really sharp but he’s been acting pretty flaky lately.
• Geraldo promised he’d send over the reports but he didn’t. He’s so flaky.

Fluency Builder:

Give examples of behaviors that make people flaky.

Lem..xo!