Do you think someone is pretentious when they use big words all the time? What would you consider to be a pretentious way of speaking?
by 
lizvelrene
ANSWERS: 7
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Not if they use them in context and properly. It's not a bad thing to have an expansive vocabulary.
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I can't help it when I do it. I'm not trying to show off it just comes out that way. Believe it or not it's how my thoughts are worded and usually I have to search for alternatives because I can't actually spell the words when I'm typing (I know pathetic right) It depends on the context as well as the personality of the person speaking. If it's intentional to try to throw the person listening of or to make them feel small or stupid then yeah you'd be right.
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Yeah, dirty be-othes...lol...
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If they are a Rhodes Scholar, the big words are probably par for the course. Pretentiousness manifests itself in people who often try to interject big words into their chit chat--especially when the words are used incorrectly. Try to catch the pseudo-intellectual when he/she uses some of these high brow words incorrectly. Correct that person by producing a dictionary to show him/her that the word was used incorrectly. This should make them come back to reality quickly.
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I will admit I have had to look up a few words every now and then but at least I learned something new!!
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Why do you feel compelled to excoriate the sufferers of inveterate preciosity so? . . . "The place where I come from is a small town They think so small, they use small words But not me, I'm smarter than that, I worked it out I'll be stretching my mouth to let those big words come right out" --Big Time (Peter Gabriel) . . "long words excellent words I can hear them now this is the picture, this is the picture" --This is the Picture (Peter Gabriel)
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People think that way about me sometimes, but I'm not trying to sound smarter than everyone else. Just because most people my age talk like chavs and haven't really changed their language since they were at school doesn't mean I'm trying to sound like someone out of a Jane Austin novel. I just prefer to use a more refined way of speaking. If I was trying to sound hard or cool, then I would be pretentious, because that's not how I feel about myself. I think people sound pretentious when they try to contribute to conversation about a subject they don't take part in.
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