C
claude23
Banned
normandy
FRANCE
- Feb 24, 2006
- #1
Hi,
How would you call someone who often change his behaviour . I mean from day to another she's quite moody ! How would you call this person who always change her mind ?
Thank you,
Claude.
elroy
Moderator: EHL, Arabic, Hebrew, German(-Spanish)
Chicago, IL
US English, Palestinian Arabic bilingual
- Feb 24, 2006
- #2
Indecisive?
L
la reine victoria
Banned
Relaxing at Osborne, Isle of Wight
England, English
- Feb 24, 2006
- #3
claude23 said:
Hi,
How would you call someone who often change his behaviour . I mean from day to another she's quite moody ! How would you call this person who always change her mind ?
Thank you,
Claude.
Hi Claude.
You could call her 'temperamental', 'moody', 'unpredictable'.
If she's always changing her mind she could be 'indecisive', 'uncertain', 'undecided'.
There are many more adjectives.
You could simply say, 'She's a woman!'
Regards
LRV
Mr.Blue
Senior Member
Australia / English
- Feb 24, 2006
- #4
Streaking , gloomy or sullen ! I think they are close (?) you can use moody it would be my choice to describe a person who changes his mood very often.
rsweet
Senior Member
English, North America
- Feb 24, 2006
- #5
la reine victoria said:
Hi Claude.
You could call her 'temperamental', 'moody', 'unpredictable'.
If she's always changing her mind she could be 'indecisive', 'uncertain', 'undecided'.
There are many more adjectives.
You could simply say, 'She's a woman!'
Regards
LRV
Ouch, la reine victoria! Claude, you could also say that she has unpredictable mood swings.
elroy
Moderator: EHL, Arabic, Hebrew, German(-Spanish)
Chicago, IL
US English, Palestinian Arabic bilingual
- Feb 24, 2006
- #6
rsweet said:
Ouch, la reine victoria! Claude, you could also say that she has unpredictable mood swings.
But we're not talking about changes in mood - but rather, those who change their mind often.
There is a difference between the two.
nycphotography
Senior Member
American English
- Feb 24, 2006
- #7
More adjectives, generally though of as feminine: Tempestuous, Petulant, capricious, flaky, fickle, flighty
And some masculine equivalents: Mercurial, eccentric.
And universally: Volatile, temperamental, impulsive
And for someone who changes for purposes of fitting in or getting along: A
chameleon.
M
maxiogee
Banned
English
- Feb 24, 2006
- #8
elroy said:
But we're not talking about changes in mood - but rather, those who change their mind often.
There is a difference between the two.
The questioner asks about both.
How would you call someone who often change his behaviour . I mean from day to another she's quite moody ! How would you call this person who always change her mind ?
Indecisive
for changing one's
mind.Inconsistent
for changing one's
behaviour.
elroy
Moderator: EHL, Arabic, Hebrew, German(-Spanish)
Chicago, IL
US English, Palestinian Arabic bilingual
- Feb 24, 2006
- #9
nycphotography said:
Two more adjectives, generally though of as feminine: Tempestuous, Petulent.
And some masculine equivalents: Mercurial, eccentric.
And universally: Volatile.
And for someone who changes for purposes of fitting in or getting along: a cameleon.
Except for "chameleon" and "mercurial," I don't really think any of these work.
"Tempestuous" to me means "violent, turbulent, stormy."
"Petulant" means "irritable, peevish, irascible."
"Eccentric" means "strange, peculiar, unorthodox."
"Volatile" means "prone to violence, explosive."
None of the above necessarily refers to someone who changes his mind a lot.
elroy
Moderator: EHL, Arabic, Hebrew, German(-Spanish)
Chicago, IL
US English, Palestinian Arabic bilingual
- Feb 24, 2006
- #10
maxiogee said:
The questioner asks about both.
Indecisivefor changing one's
mind.
Inconsistentfor changing one's
behaviour.
Oops - I misread the question. I thought she was answering her own question by saying that one who changes his behavior is "moody" (which I think works fine) as a pretext before asking the follow-up question about someone who changes his mind a lot.
nycphotography
Senior Member
American English
- Feb 24, 2006
- #11
elroy said:
Except for "cameleon" and "mercurial," I don't really think any of these work.
"Tempestuous" to me means "violent, turbulent, stormy."
"Petulant" means "irritable, peevish, irascible."
"Eccentric" means "strange, peculiar, unorthodox."
"Volatile" means "prone to violence, explosive."None of the above necessarily refers to someone who changes his mind a lot.
"Tempestuous" to me means "violent, turbulent, stormy."
People who live violent, turbulent, stormy lives, generally do so because they change the minds and their moods frequently, rather a lot like the weather.
"Petulant" means "irritable, peevish, irascible."
People who are peevish tend to be "contrarian", which tends to cause them to change their minds a lot so as to remain contrary.
"Eccentric" means "strange, peculiar, unorthodox."
Hmm. Maybe. And yet most "eccentric" men are seen as somewhat capricious, no?
"Volatile" means "prone to violence, explosive."
See, tempestuous above.
In various contexts, in various ways, each of those words may be fitting for a highly variable person. Of course, they have to be applied appropriately to the context and people involved.
panjandrum
Senior Member
Belfast, Ireland
English-Ireland (top end)
- Feb 24, 2006
- #12
Whimsical, if you wish to be lighthearted.
Devious, if you wish to go towards the other end of the spectrum.
(Incidentally, I see from the original post that this person also changed his sex.
And while I'm being incidental, I didn't know of cameleon as an alternative to chameleon until today.)
L
la reine victoria
Banned
Relaxing at Osborne, Isle of Wight
England, English
- Feb 24, 2006
- #13
Mr.Blue said:
Streaking , gloomy or sullen ! I think they are close (?) you can use moody it would be my choice to describe a person who changes his mood very often.
Sorry to disagree Mr Blue.
gloomy or sullen refer to a person's mood at a given point in time, not to the fact that they are always behaving differently from one day to the next.
Is 'streaking' an Australianism? I've never heard it used in the UK, apart from running naked across rugby pitches, etc.
La Reine V
elroy
Moderator: EHL, Arabic, Hebrew, German(-Spanish)
Chicago, IL
US English, Palestinian Arabic bilingual
- Feb 24, 2006
- #14
nycphotography said:
In various contexts, in various ways, each of those words may be fitting for a highly variable person. Of course, they have to be applied appropriately to the context and people involved.
Agreed. I was just being skeptical because I didn't think that the words on their own referred to the person's variability (cf. "mercurial" and "chameleon").
Also, as you'll notice in post #10, I had misunderstood the question to be exclusively referring to those who change their mind as opposed to those who change their mood. Including moodswings does put a different spin on things.
nycphotography
Senior Member
American English
- Feb 24, 2006
- #15
panjandrum said:
Whimsical, if you wish to be lighthearted.
Devious, if you wish to go towards the other end of the spectrum.(Incidentally, I see from the original post that this person also changed his sex.
And while I'm being incidental, I didn't know of cameleon as an alternative to chameleon until today.)
I didn't either! (headed off to edit yet again.......)
rsweet
Senior Member
English, North America
- Feb 24, 2006
- #16
Maybe we should add "fickle" to the mix?
Kelly B
Curmodgeratrice
USA English
- Feb 24, 2006
- #17
...and erratic.
elroy
Moderator: EHL, Arabic, Hebrew, German(-Spanish)
Chicago, IL
US English, Palestinian Arabic bilingual
- Feb 24, 2006
- #18
Ah...I like "fickle"! I think it was on the tip of my tongue - well done, Rsweet!
Another word that comes to mind is "vacillate," which, albeit not an adjective, works as well.
S
surendipity
New Member
English Canada
- Feb 25, 2006
- #19
"How would you call someone who often change his behaviour . I mean from day to another she's quite moody ! How would you call this person who always change her mind ?"
I wouldn't call her at all.
C
CAMullen
Senior Member
Amesbury
US, English
- Feb 26, 2006
- #20
Serendipity brings up a good point, Claude. In any European language with which I have a slight familiarity, "How" is often used where an English speaker would say "What." Pardon the lack of punctuation, but "Comment s'appelle," "Como se llama," or "Wie heisst," but in English "What (and not 'how') is it called."
L
la reine victoria
Banned
Relaxing at Osborne, Isle of Wight
England, English
- Feb 26, 2006
- #21
CAMullen said:
Serendipity brings up a good point, Claude. In any European language with which I have a slight familiarity, "How" is often used where an English speaker would say "What." Pardon the lack of punctuation, but "Comment s'appelle," "Como se llama," or "Wie heisst," but in English "What (and not 'how') is it called."
Agreed CAMullen.
Claude should have said 'How would you describe' not 'how would you call'.
I think Surendipity was giving a 'tongue-in-cheek' answer. Not worth bothering with such a girl.
LRV
Abioz Aiz
New Member
India - Hindi & English
- Jan 15, 2018
- #22
elroy said:
But we're not talking about changes in mood - but rather, those who change their mind often.
There is a difference between the two.
We can even call her capricious.
goldencypress
Senior Member
India
India - Malayalam
- Jul 17, 2019
- #23
Capricious or whimsical
E
EMT500
New Member
English
- Sep 6, 2021
- #24
elroy said:
But we're not talking about changes in mood - but rather, those who change their mind often.
There is a difference between the two.
The word you are "all" looking for is "fickle".
R
Ranrock10
New Member
Jaipur
India- Hindi
- Mar 7, 2022
- #25
Fickle-minded: phrase for the one changing mind frequently.
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