Behaviour of a person who wants too much from another person

[milan2003_07]

Hello,

I'm looking for the word describing a person's behaviour when the person wants too much from another person or other people and then he starts depending completely on him (the second person) and stops doing all the necessary work himself. Maybe he also wants another person to protect him just in case (maybe someone in authority will notice his doing nothing or relying too much upon another person).

Below I've given several sentences to clarify what exactly I mean:

1. In the last couple of months Jack has been imposing himself on his colleagues/colleague because he was very lazy and didn't want to do his work himself.
2) To impose oneself upon others at work or in life can be very comfortable, but one day this can suddenly be finished.
3) She wants to live off her boyfriend with her children from the previous marriage and make him involved in her children's upbringing.
4) She wants to straddle her boyfriend's back and doesn't want to earn any money herself.

Are these sentences correct and idiomatic?

 

[Tarheel]

As odd as the last one might seem, it might work the best. (I could change my mind.)

 

[Tarheel]

1. You need to make that entirely in the present tense. (That can only work if his colleagues agree to do his work for him, which is unlikely.)
2. Perhaps: "You can get used to being dependent on others, but when they stop doing things for you life can get very tough very fast.
3. She wants to live off her boyfriend, and she wants him to help her raise her children.
4. Although there is a literal meaning for this one, it is clear that is meant metaphorically.

 

[milan2003_07]

1. You need to make that entirely in the present tense. (That can only work if his colleagues agree to do his work for him, which is unlikely.)
2. Perhaps: "You can get used to being dependent on others, but when they stop doing things for you life can get very tough very fast.
3. She wants to live off her boyfriend, and she wants him to help her raise her children.
4. Although there is a literal meaning for this one, it is clear that is meant metaphorically.

1. In the last couple of months Jack has been imposing himself on his colleagues/colleague because he is very lazy and doesn't want to do his work himself.
2) You can get used to being dependent on others, but when they stop doing things for you life can get very tough very fast.
3) She wants to live off her boyfriend, and she wants him to help her raise her children.
4) She wants to straddle her boyfriend's back and doesn't want to earn any money herself.

 

[White Hat]

You could also use 'mooch (off)' and 'sponge (off)'.

 

[tedmc]

What about "being a parasite"?

 

[Tarheel]

What about "being a parasite"?

You could, I think, use that as a verb, thus: parasitize.

 

[milan2003_07]

You could also use 'mooch (off)' and 'sponge (off)'.

I have consulted the Collins Dictionary and haven't found anything about "mooch off". It doesn't I don't trust, it just means I need to provide some examples with this verb and "sponge off" (I've found it). Please leave your commentaries regarding the usage:

1. I had to mooch off on my parents to get money support for life.
2. I had to sponge off my parents to obtain financial support as I urgently needed it.
3. I had to sponge on my parents as it was more comfortable and convenient for me.
4. I preferred to mooch off as it provided quite a happy life.
5. He decided to sponge on other people to improve his career.
6. It's not very good for you if you sponge off other people to do the job for you.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tarheel]

You need an object with those. "I sponged off my parents" works.

It is, I think, the kind of thing you might say about somebody else rather than the kind of thing they would say about themselves.

 

[emsr2d2]

I have consulted the Collins Dictionary and haven't found anything about "mooch off". It doesn't mean I don't trust you; it just means I need to provide some examples with this verb and "sponge off" (I've found it). Please leave your commentaries comments regarding the following usage sentences:

1. I had to mooch off on my parents to get money support for life. There are several problems with this sentence.
2. I had to sponge off my parents to obtain financial support as I urgently needed it. Grammatically correct but "sponge off" usually means a longer duration than a single urgent need.
3. I had to sponge on my parents as it was more comfortable and convenient for me. "Sponge on" is wrong.
4. I preferred to mooch off as it provided quite a happy life. "Mooch off" is transitive.
5. He decided to sponge on other people to improve his career. "Sponge on" is wrong.
6. It's not very good for you if you sponge off other people to do the job for you. "Sponge off" doesn't work with getting people to do work for you.

 

[Tarheel]

"It's not that I don't trust you" works there, but "It's not that I don't believe you" might be as good or better.

 

[milan2003_07]

Dear emsr2d2 and the forum participants,

Below are some of my comments on post #10 (emsr2d2's reply)

Sentence 2:
"I had to sponge off my parents to obtain financial support as I urgently needed it.". Well, I actually meant that I needed support for a long time and probably the word "urgently" is not suitable for the situation. Anyway, I've learnt how to use "sponge off" and thanks for that. I can perephrase the sentence the following way: "I was forced to sponge off my parents as I've lost a lot of money and needed their support".


Sentence 3:
Regarding "sponge on", why is it incorrect? The preposition "on" is wrong here? Here is the definition of "sponge on" from the Collins Cobuild dictionary, from where I've borrowed this verb: "If you say that someone sponges off other people or sponges on them, you mean that they regularly get money from other people when they should be trying to support themselves [Informal]."

Here are the sample sentences from Collins Cobuild:
"He should just get an honest job and stop sponging off the rest of us."
"He spent his life grumbling about missed opportunities and sponging on his father for money."

Sentence 4:
"I preferred to mooch off my parents as it provided quite a happy life".

What do you think about these sentences above?

 

[Tarheel]

As I already said, a person is unlikely to say it about himself. (It is not meant as a compliment.)

 

[milan2003_07]

As I already said, a person is unlikely to say it about himself. (It is not meant as a compliment.)

Tarheel, now I see what you mean. These are all negative sentences and it's considered to be not very good when we find ourselves dependent upon other people. The same in the Russian language.

I will perephrase the sentences taking into account your comment (hope that the sentences will sound better and more natural now):

1. Some of his relatives noticed that he had sponged off his parents after losing a lot of money. He actually needed any kind of support in that situation.

2. Regarding "sponge on", why is it incorrect? The preposition "on" is wrong here? Here is the definition of "sponge on" from the Collins Cobuild dictionary, from where I've borrowed this verb: "If you say that someone sponges off other people or sponges on them, you mean that they regularly get money from other people when they should be trying to support themselves [Informal]."

Here are the sample sentences from Collins Cobuild:
"He should just get an honest job and stop sponging off the rest of us."
"He spent his life grumbling about missed opportunities and sponging on his father for money."

3. He actually decided to mooch off his parents as it provided quite a happy life.

 

[emsr2d2]

Dear emsr2d2 and the forum participants, All unnecessary

Below are some of my comments on post #10 (emsr2d2's reply) All unnecessary

Your posts are already quite long. Don't make them longer with unnecessary introductions.

Sentence 2: "I had to sponge off my parents to obtain financial support as I urgently needed it no full stop here". Well, I actually meant that I needed support for a long time and probably the word "urgently" is not suitable for the situation. Anyway, I've learnt how to use "sponge off" and thanks for that. I can paraphrase the sentence the following way: "I was forced to sponge off my parents as I've lost a lot of money and needed their support".

Yes, if you remove "urgently", it's a better sentence.

Sentence 3: Regarding "sponge on", why is it incorrect? The preposition "on" is wrong here? Here is the definition of "sponge on" from the Collins Cobuild dictionary, from where I've borrowed this verb: "If you say that someone sponges off other people or sponges on them, you mean that they regularly get money from other people when they should be trying to support themselves [Informal]."

Here are the sample sentences from Collins Cobuild:
"He should just get an honest job and stop sponging off the rest of us."
"He spent his life grumbling about missed opportunities and sponging on his father for money."

I've never heard "sponge on" in BrE. That's why I said it was wrong.

Sentence 4: "I preferred to mooch off my parents as it provided quite a happy life".

The use of "mooch off" as a transitive verb is correct. I don't think it really works with "happy life" and, as Tarheel has said a couple of times, we don't generally use this negative verb about ourselves.

 

[Tarheel]

Tarheel, now I see what you mean. These are all negative sentences and it's considered to be not very good when we find ourselves dependent upon other people. The same in the Russian language.

I will REPHRASE the sentences taking into account your comment (hope that the sentences will sound better and more natural now):

1. Some of his relatives noticed that he had sponged off his parents after losing a lot of money. He actually needed any kind of support in that situation.

2. Regarding "sponge on", why is it incorrect? The preposition "on" is wrong here? Here is the definition of "sponge on" from the Collins Cobuild dictionary, from where I've borrowed this verb: "If you say that someone sponges off other people or sponges on them, you mean that they regularly get money from other people when they should be trying to support themselves [Informal]."

Those are better examples.

As for "sponge on", I am simply not used to it, but if it's in the dictionary, OK.

(Your posts are rather long, and I tend to forget what the question is. )