[Grammar] Big mouth or big mouthed?

[mrmvp]

I think both "big mouth" and "big mouthed" are adjectives, but if I want to describe a talkative friend, which one should I say?

My friend is big mouthed.

My friend is big mouth.

Thank you.

 

[Rover_KE]

Neither of the above. It doesn't mean he is talkative — it's a noun meaning he is boastful or he gives secrets away.

'Luke Smart has/is a big mouth.'

In a different context, there's a fish called a big mouthed bass.

 

[Raymott]

'Big' is an adjective; 'Mouth' is a noun'.
In "my big-mouthed friend", "big-mouthed" is an adjective.

 

[mrmvp]

Thank you. Now I understand what "big mouth" means.

Is there a word or an idiom which describes a person who saying that I am going to do this and that, but he is just speaking without taking actions, just to show off.

 

[probus]

A popular British idiom, at least when I lived there long ago, was "He"s all mouth and trousers."

I am not sure how strong the sexual implications of this saying may be in actual usage. Speakers of BrE please advise.

 

[jutfrank]

He's all mouth and trousers is still used in British English but I'd suggest He's all talk.

 

[Rover_KE]

I use 'all mouth and trousers' as a sharp-tongued and effective putdown of a certain kind of pushy, over-confident male.

(The above quote is from Piscean's link.)

 

[probus]

Thanks to Piscean's link we now have the American equivalent:

All hat (or big hat) and no cattle.

 

[jutfrank]

I always thought the expression was "all mouth and no trousers". I am not alone, as this article shows.

I was interested to see that the writer used UE as a reference.

Yes, of course it's no trousers. Awful oversight on my part, sorry.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes, of course it's no trousers. Awful oversight on my part, sorry.

Not necessarily. See above. No need to apologise.

 

[probus]

The article Piscean referred us to insists that both the trousers and the no trousers versions exist, and claims they both have the same meaning. That seems very odd to me, but the mysteries of language are seemingly endless.

 

[jutfrank]

Not necessarily. See above. No need to apologise.

Interesting. That's maybe why I didn't at first notice the lack of no. Of course, regardless of what people say, the version without no doesn't make sense in itself. Similar to I could care less.

 

[Rover_KE]

... the version without no doesn't make sense in itself.

Yes, it does. He's testosterone-charged, brags a lot and fancies himself as a ladies' man — with no suggestion he'd be unable to deliver if encouraged: on the contrary, he's only too willing to deliver given the opportunity.

We all know men like that, don't we?

The article Piscean referred us to insists that both the trousers and the no trousers versions exist, and claims they both have the same meaning.

But it goes on to point out that 'This expression comes from the north of England and is used, mainly by women in my experience, as a sharp-tongued and effective putdown of a certain kind of pushy, over-confident male'.

That's where I come from, and that's how it's used here.