A wet blanket is a person who spoils other people's fun. Everyone wants to keep the evening going or try something exciting, but this person grumbles, talks them out of it and suggests going home. The idiom is conversational and sounds like a criticism, so people use it about themselves only with irony: I don't want to be a wet blanket, but it's late. It isn't used in essays, where the behaviour is described neutrally: he was negative about every idea.
When would you say a wet blanket?
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be a wet blanket; don't be such a wet blanket; be a bit of a wet blanket
- I didn't want to be a wet blanket, so I joined in the karaoke even though I was tired.
- My flatmate is a bit of a wet blanket and complains about every weekend plan we make.
What changed
First versionDon't be such wet blanket and stay for one more song.
RevisionDon't be such a wet blanket and stay for one more song.
The article is easy to lose inside a set phrase. But wet blanket is a singular countable noun here, so after such it needs an article: such a wet blanket. Nothing else in the sentence was changed.
A boring person is simply dull: spending time with them isn't much fun, but they don't stop anyone else from enjoying themselves. A wet blanket kills other people's enthusiasm: they complain, argue and hurry everyone along. Compare: He's a bit boring and He's such a wet blanket, he wants to leave every party at nine.
Your turn
Everyone wanted to go swimming in the lake at midnight, but Tom kept saying it was too cold and too late. He was a real ___.
Show the answer
wet blanket — Tom keeps talking everyone out of the midnight swim and spoils the fun for the whole group, which is exactly what a wet blanket does. A black sheep is someone a family or group sees as a disgrace, and that's not what this situation is about.
Think of a celebration, trip or party where someone spoiled everyone's mood. Write who it was and what exactly they did.
At my cousin's birthday party, her boyfriend was a real wet blanket: he kept checking his watch and complaining about the music.
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