Find English Teachers
than
Black sheep?
In the song Season in the sun by Westlife has a sentence " i was black sheep of the family"! What does Black sheep mean? Thank you!
Aug 11, 2019 9:51 PM
Comments · 10
3
It's always worth checking in a dictionary to see whether a phrase is a common idiom. In this case, you've come across a very common expression which you could have found in any dictionary. Here's what the Cambridge Learners' Dictionary says:
The black sheep of the family:
a <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/person" target="_blank">person</a> who has done something <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bad" target="_blank">bad</a> that <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bring" target="_blank">brings</a> <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/embarrassment" target="_blank">embarrassment</a> or <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/shame" target="_blank">shame</a> to his or her <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/family" target="_blank">family</a>:
August 11, 2019
2
google "what does black sheep mean?" gets lots of reasonable explanations.
August 11, 2019
1
Usually black sheep (when used to describe a person) means outsider or one who doesn't fit in. As mentioned in the definitions by Chris and Su Ki, and Danilo, there can be an element of disfavor or shame involved.
In the song, black sheep seems to mean the one who didn't fit in because he was a wild child and likely gave his parents trouble. It's a good song and it's interesting to see that people are still listening to it. I know it best from 1974 when Terry Jacks made it famous.
An excerpt:
Goodbye Papa please pray for me
I was the black sheep of the family
You tried to teach me right from wrong
Too much wine and too much song
Wonder how I got along
August 12, 2019
1
Chris ah ! Yes as you said I might find wrong dictionary!
August 11, 2019
1
The Oxford Learner's Dictionaries are an excellent resource.
Definition of black sheep noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
black sheep <em style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">noun</em>
BrE /ˌblæk ˈʃiːp/ ; NAmE /ˌblæk ˈʃiːp/
[usually singular]
a person who is different from the rest of their family or another group, and who is considered bad or embarrassing
<em>the black sheep of the family</em>
August 11, 2019
Show more
than
Language Skills
English, Vietnamese
Learning Language
English
Articles You May Also Like

The Power of Storytelling in Business Communication
40 likes · 9 Comments

Back-to-School English: 15 Must-Know Phrases for the Classroom
28 likes · 6 Comments

Ten Tourist towns in Portugal that nobody remembers
56 likes · 22 Comments
More articles