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Too cute for your own good

Posted by R. Berg on April 18, 2002

In Reply to: Too cute for your own good posted by TheFallen on April 17, 2002

: : Does ANYONE know what the espression "you are too cute for your own good" means? Thanks! I'd appreciate it.

: : Nate

: This is tricky, because "cute" can be interpreted in several different ways, and it largely comes down to the context and tone surrounding the phrase. Cute could, I think, happily mean pretty or attractive, or it could mean clever or smart or it could even suggest naive. No matter which of these meanings is appropriate here, the phrase means that the person referred to has such an abundance of one of the above-mentioned qualities that it is liable to cause him or her trouble. A similar phrase in the UK with the same fractionally ominous overtones in the UK would be describing someone as "too pretty (or clever etc.) by half."

In the right context, "cute" could even mean "sarcastic," so that the speaker might be warning someone that all those witty remarks are going to land him or her in trouble.

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