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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: “We’ve tried to reason with him but he’s got such a big head that he won’t listen.” Big head? My comments: Presumably in that big head, there’s nothing but himself to think of. When you’re full of yourself, you’re very proud, self-important, arrogant and tend to be not at all considerate of other people’s interests and concerns. Which can be annoying sometimes. Often times, I shall say. To say that “he” has a “big head”, however, is speaking metaphorically. In other words, the speaker is not accusing him of having a king-sized head physically – which is not a crime for sure. Of course not. To say he has “such a big head” is to take an aim at and attack on his large sized ego. I’ve heard of people say that so and so has such a big head that he cannot pass through the door, or that a certain pro football (American style) player has such a big head that they don’t have a helmet large enough to fit him in. On both these occasions, people are speaking metaphysically, too, and both times they’re being critical of the big-headed person in question. Yes, the big-headed person tends to think himself as better, smarter and more important than he really is, and, this is the annoying part, he thinks he’s more important than others – which often makes him difficult for him to get along. | 
