# Annoying pretentious words, sayings, or pronunciations people use to sound smarter **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2001, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456 "2001-01-04T20:43:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/141 "2012-12-07T20:47:56Z")
My favorite pretentious word is sesquipedalian, because, you know, it IS sesquipedalian. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/142 "2012-12-07T21:15:06Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > And, YOOR-anus isn’t pretentious No, it isn’t, because it’s too easy. For the _dernier cri_ in _recherché_ pronunciations, I say it in [Ancient Greek](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_phonology): [[**ouranós**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_Greek)] (oh-oo-rah-NOHS). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/143 "2012-12-07T21:25:02Z")
From way back in the thread… Wait a sec…saying “DrAWma” as opposed to “DrAma” (which I’m taking to rhyme with “Gramma”) is pretentious? That’s the only way I’ve ever heard it said. My contribution is people who use “The City” to refer to San Francisco. Them: “I’m going up to The City tonight.” Me: “Oh? Which one?” ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/144 "2012-12-07T21:47:06Z")
I submit to you the most pompous, haughty, and pretentious word in the English language: qua. Qua means either “as” or “in the capacity of” (that’s pretty much what “as” means anyway). Any time you encounter the word qua when it’s not part of a latin phrase, count yourself lucky as having been witness to one of the most pretentious people to ever exist. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/145 "2012-12-07T21:48:44Z")
> [@scottws](#): > > People who insist upon using periods instead of dashes (or parentheses) in phone numbers - as in 525.521.1212. Supposed to look european or some damn thing, I guess. That’s what I thought, until I noticed it’s a lot easier to type numbers that way. No shift needed. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/146 "2012-12-07T21:55:00Z")
> [@egkelly](#): > > I’m trying to revive two little-used 19th century word..“blatherskite” and “Plugugley”,does this make me pedantic? Not if you don’t know how to spell “plugugly”. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/147 "2012-12-07T21:58:41Z")
> [@Chronolicht](#): > > Preoccupied with a little hole, are you? A true sui generis. The BLT sandwich I had for lunch the other day was quintessentially sooeeeeeeeeeeey-generis. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/148 "2012-12-07T22:02:44Z")
> [@SpartanDC](#): > > ANYTHING in the passive voice, unless it serves some literary purpose. In explanatory writing, the active is always better. Even when the identity of the agent is unknown or immaterial? Compare the following: _I’ve been robbed!_ vs _Someone robbed me!_ As maligned as the passive voice is, I think it works much better here. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/149 "2012-12-07T22:10:06Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > That’s what I thought, until I noticed it’s a lot easier to type numbers that way. No shift needed. You should be typing your phone numbers on the numpad anyway, where a ‘-’ is just a pinkie (or ring finger if you prefer) away 🙂 (I too hate the periods) ---
**Author:** ![AuntPam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@AuntPam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntPam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/150 "2012-12-07T22:34:58Z")
“as per” your instructions (a favorite of secretaries). It’s just “per your instructions.” “Comprised of” when you mean “composed of”. The whole comprises (includes) the parts. It is NOT comprised of them. Pretentious and uneducated. I also detest the usual round of bizjargon: “We’re going to maximize profits by leveraging our synergies, using a ground-zero budgeting approach, and right-sizing the business.” (Translation: We’re reconsidering our expenses by starting from square one; we’ll be firing some people and assigning their jobs to other people who have similar skills and related knowledge." ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/151 "2012-12-07T22:45:42Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > My contribution is people who use “The City” to refer to San Francisco. > Them: “I’m going up to The City tonight.” > Me: “Oh? Which one?” Oh, jebussfrukingkeeristonacrutch- YES! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/152 "2012-12-07T22:47:53Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > You should be typing your phone numbers on the numpad anyway, where a ‘-’ is just a pinkie (or ring finger if you prefer) away 🙂 > > (I too hate the periods) That’s a hassle, though. Besides, I’d be willing to bet that most typing these days is done on machines that don’t have dedicated numpads. When I am using a full keyboard, I’ve always been irked by the fact that the rows are in reverse order compared to a telephone keypad. I imagine the convention on computer keyboards came from the world of adding machines and calculators, and I never understood why the phone companies didn’t follow suit. After all, anyone who had already worked extensively with adding machines and the like was already used to doing that by touch. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/153 "2012-12-07T23:13:27Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > That’s a hassle, though. Besides, I’d be willing to bet that most typing these days is done on machines that don’t have dedicated numpads. > > When I am using a full keyboard, I’ve always been irked by the fact that the rows are in reverse order compared to a telephone keypad. I imagine the convention on computer keyboards came from the world of adding machines and calculators, and I never understood why the phone companies didn’t follow suit. After all, anyone who had already worked extensively with adding machines and the like was already used to doing that by touch. But the periods just look so pretentious!!! I don’t care how much easier it is. 😛 (I agree it’s annoying that keypads don’t use the same convention as phones) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/154 "2012-12-08T00:12:10Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > My contribution is people who use “The City” to refer to San Francisco. > Them: “I’m going up to The City tonight.” It makes sense to use the phrase if you’re in the area as it’s universally understood and serves to conveniently distinguish San Francisco from all the nearby suburbs. Same thing if you’re not in the area but it’s relevant to the conversation. (All this is IMHO, of course.) But to say you’re flying back to The City, from anywhere far enough away that you can actually do so on a scheduled flight, is very pretentious. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/155 "2012-12-08T00:31:32Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > It makes sense to use the phrase if you’re in the area as it’s universally understood and serves to conveniently distinguish San Francisco from all the nearby suburbs. Same thing if you’re not in the area but it’s relevant to the conversation. (All this is IMHO, of course.) > > But to say you’re flying back to The City, from anywhere far enough away that you can actually do so on a scheduled flight, is very pretentious. Yeah, but those of us from _other_ cities in the Bay Area (like San Jose) get a little miffed sometimes when pretentious hipsters act like SF is the only “city” worth talking about. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/156 "2012-12-08T01:01:20Z")
It’s probably just me, but I hate it when news readers begin sentences with “Now,” — not because they are reporting breaking news, but just to sound like they are geniuses, patiently explaining something to their uninformed viewers. This is a recent development for me, and I think it began when I started forcing myself to watch Fox News before the election to see what the enemy was thinking. Sean Hannity on Fox News is the worst — he begins two sentences out of three with “Now,” and almost invariably follows it with something stupid. “Now, we know that Obama was watching the Benghazi attack in real time…” “Now, the UN has always done whatever it could to destroy Israel…” “Now, the War on Christmas is just the latest attempt of liberals to abolish religion…” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/157 "2012-12-08T02:49:32Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > It makes sense to use the phrase if you’re in the area as it’s universally understood and serves to conveniently distinguish San Francisco from all the nearby suburbs. Same thing if you’re not in the area but it’s relevant to the conversation. (All this is IMHO, of course.) > > But to say you’re flying back to The City, from anywhere far enough away that you can actually do so on a scheduled flight, is very pretentious. Good point that last one, but SJ outweighs SF by a good margin, and thus if one is on the Peninsula or even the lower East Bay, “the City” could just as well mean SJ. True, SF is more urban than SJ, but SJ is hardly a suburb, being the 10th largest city in the uSA. Mind you, when Herb Caen used it, SF _was_ the local big city. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/158 "2012-12-08T10:13:34Z")
> [@AuntPam](#): > > I also detest the usual round of bizjargon: “We’re going to maximize profits by leveraging our synergies, using a ground-zero budgeting approach, and right-sizing the business.” (Translation: We’re reconsidering our expenses by starting from square one; we’ll be firing some people and assigning their jobs to other people who have similar skills and related knowledge." Bizjargon can be worse when used outside a business context. My businessman uncle was executor of his father’s will. After his father’s stroke but well before his death, this uncle would speak to my other uncles and aunts about achieving “closure” with their father. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/159 "2012-12-08T10:40:23Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > How is this pretentious? > It’s certainly redundant; either “whence” or “from where” would make more sense. But to be fair, they _are_ following a pretty respectable precedent. “From whence” is often used in the Authorized Version of the Bible: > > And in the Athanasian Creed from the Book of Common Prayer: > > What’s wrong with “fornicate”? I’m not aware of any Anglo-Saxon verbs which mean “have sexual intercourse with someone to whom you are not married”. Because it is no longer 1611, and because “fornicate” implies a value judgement that frankly isn’t polite to state aloud. One’s feelings on premarital or extramarital sex simply aren’t necessary to share with anyone other than one’s partner. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456/160 "2012-12-08T11:57:02Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Bizjargon can be worse when used outside a business context. My businessman uncle was executor of his father’s will. After his father’s stroke but well before his death, this uncle would speak to my other uncles and aunts about achieving “closure” with their father. What’s wrong with that expression? The word _closure_ has had many different meanings for a long time. To describe an emotional process, _closure_ has been a term in psychology since [1910](http://www.robertfulford.com/Closure.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-pretentious-words-sayings-or-pronunciations-people-use-to-sound-smarter/48456.md?page=9)