--- title: Soft words for hard things: children's behaviour and school reports and teachers — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Soft words for hard things: children's behaviour and school reports and teachers», a lesson of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Parents and teachers often describe a child's problems in kind, positive-sounding word --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/) / Soft words for hard things: children's… # Soft words for hard things: children's behaviour and school reports and teachers Lesson 15 of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school: 21 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/0/) — Parents and teachers often describe a child's problems in kind, positive-sounding words so the child and family are not hurt. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/4/) — "Having a moment" said about a child means throwing a tantrum. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/5/) — "Boisterous" means rough and noisy. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/6/) — "Full of beans" means very energetic, almost hyperactive (UK). - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/7/) — "Free spirit" said about a child means one who does not follow rules. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/8/) — "Clingy" means anxious and unwilling to leave the parent. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/9/) — "Slow to warm up" means shy or anxious with new people. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/10/) — "Testing boundaries" means misbehaving on purpose to see what is allowed. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/11/) — "Acting out" means behaving badly because of upset feelings. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/12/) — "Live wire" means a very energetic, hyperactive child (one so full of energy that he cannot keep still). - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/13/) — "Cheeky" means rude or disrespectful, often said lightly (UK). - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/14/) — "Little darling" said ironically means a badly behaved child. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/15/) — "Rascal" means a mischievous, naughty child, said fondly. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/16/) — "Hangry" means cross because of hunger (jokey). - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/17/) — "Quiet time" means a rest or calming down that the child must take. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/18/) — "Lively" on a school report often means disruptive or hyperactive. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/19/) — "Sociable" on a school report often means talks too much in class. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/20/) — "Has a lot of energy" on a report often means cannot sit still. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/21/) — "Strong personality" on a report often means bossy or defiant. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/22/) — "Working towards" on a UK report means not yet meeting the expected standard. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/15-behaviour-and-school-reports/23/) — "Emerging" on a UK report means well below the expected level. - ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: relations and family and children's behaviour](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/14-family-and-behaviour/) - next →: [Soft words for hard things: school reports and teachers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/16-school-reports/) - ↑ back to [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/)