What exactly makes someone a tool?

Question

I'm really confused about this slang word because there is no consistent definition for it on urban dictionary. The three major ones are: A. "One who lacks the mental capacity to know he is being used. A fool"

B. "Someone whose ego FAR exceeds his talent, intelligence, and likeability. But, of course, he is clueless regarding that fact. He erroneously thinks he is THE MAN!"

C. Someone who can't think for themselves, changes their mind based on what other people think. 

My friend called me a tool when I agreed to do an ROTC morning exercise at 4:30 am with my suite mate, who was trying to get "recruit" volunteers. Apparently, whoever in his class got the most volunteers would win some reward/prize. 

But I sincerely just wanted to exercise because I hadn't exercised in a while and was also curious to see what kind of exercises they did in ROTC. I had no intention of helping my suite mate, but at the same time, I wasn't against helping him.

So what exactly is a tool, if there are so many variations on its slang definition? Was I really being a tool?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Tool refers to a person who does something dumb but is smart enough that he/she should have known better.

NYSubwayCarriage · Answer

It's hard to explain what it means because it doesn't really have a meaning ... It's just something you throw out there when you feel it's right.  I know the English language doesn't compensate for this because everything has to be so proper, but in some languages there are words that can't be explained with other words because they are a feeling.
The slang word tool is an example of this.

Your room mate used it in the proper context, and just hope he keeps using it so you can get a feel for it.  I think I could provide an example, but without actually having this happen to you in real life, I don't think this will help you much..

So here we go; for example:

Amy and Sarah are walking up the stairs at school.  Amy drops a dollar, and it lands at the bottom of the stairs.  1 dollar is a lot to give up, but Amy is lazy so she says to Sarah "pleeeeease go get that for me... I'll give you 50 cents !"  Not only does Sarah go get the dollar, she prances down the stairs like she's happy about it.  She didn't want the 50 cents, she just didn't mind going back down the stairs because she had so much energy.  When Sarah retrieves the dollar and hands it to Amy, amy says "Sarah, you're such a Tool".  They laugh and live happily ever after.

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What exactly makes someone a tool?

2 Answers