Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
“Regarding the people who raise their eyebrows at the notion of the vanity of actors making records, all I can do is hope that they will listen without prejudice.”
- Minnie Driver on being both an actress and a musician. (HARP Magazine)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
view suspiciously; distrust
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
When someone says something you don’t quite believe, what do you do with your face? Do you stick out your tongue? Do you make a kissy face? Obviously you raise your eyebrows. It’s the natural thing to do when you’re skeptical of something.
Raising eyebrows isn’t just a physical gesture to express suspicion, it’s also a figure of speech. If someone gets away with something without anyone noticing, you can say that person did it without raising any eyebrows. If someone plans to do something daring, you could say that person might raise some eyebrows.
Minnie Driver is most well known for acting in films like Good Will Hunting and Return to Me, but she recently recorded an album. Actors who record albums have a long history of sucking at music (see Eddie Murphy), so Driver knows that her venture into music will raise a few eyebrows but she hopes that people will take her seriously nonetheless.
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“I can’t believe Wendy can just date three boys at once without raising an eyebrow!”
“Many parents raise their eyebrows when their children start listening to Marilyn Manson, but I let my kids listen to whatever they want.”