“This guy over there with the dreadlocks, Johnny... he's kind of the boss's right hand man.”

English Lesson: This guy over there with the dreadlocks, Johnny... he's kind of the boss's right hand man.

There's a new employee working with you. You're training him and showing him around. You point to one of the other people you work with and explain who he is.

This guy over there with the dreadlocks, Johnny... he's kind of the boss's right hand man.

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a guy

A "guy" is a man. It's a casual word.

You use this word instead of "man" when you're talking to your friends or in a casual situation like at a party. The person you're talking about can either be someone that you know, or someone who you don't know but don't have high respect for.

For a stranger who seems older and more respectable, "man" or even "gentleman" are more polite.

Note that you can use the plural form, "guys", when you're talking to a group of men or women:

Great job today, guys. Keep up the good work.

But "guy" (singular) always refers to a man.

dreadlocks

"Dreadlocks" are hair which is tangled together into thick pieces. People who have dreadlocks either let their hair naturally grow into this style or do things to form the dreadlocks.

Each individual bunch of hair is called "a dreadlock". All together, you can say that a person "has dreadlocks" or "wears her hair in dreadlocks".

the boss

When you're talking about your boss with someone else who works with you, you can use the phrase "the boss". For example:

The boss says we have to be here at 9:00 tomorrow.

It's more common to call your boss "the boss":

  • when you don't know your boss well
  • when you work in a service or labor job, rather than in an office setting

(someone) is (someone's) right hand man

Your "right hand man" is the person who helps you out the most. It's not like an assistant, but more like a "second in command". This is the person you trust and depend on.

By the way, when you're talking about a woman who holds this position, you might use the phrase "right hand woman", but you might also use "right hand man" anyway.