# Are people on this board too smart for their own darn good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 6, 2009, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058 "2009-01-06T06:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/41 "2009-01-06T23:26:56Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Damn…that sucks. Once you soil your armor it’s SO hard to get the smell out. Er…not that I would know that, you _in an OUTRAGEOUS Franch accent_ English PigDog! Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time! Your mother was a hamster (probably used to run this board in fact!) and your father smelled of elderberries! > > -XT Not only that, as father got older his berries got more elder. 😃 and they smelled ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/42 "2009-01-06T23:38:26Z")
I love the phrase “too smart for their own good”. It is so smug, condescending, arrogant, and self-congratulatory of deep ignorance. It means “I know better than fancy educated people” even though I haven’t a clue why. It has a “get off my lawn” feel to it. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/43 "2009-01-07T00:06:49Z")
I don’t think of it that way at all. To me, it’s a phrase often used to describe people who have learned just enough to get themselves in trouble. We’ve all heard stories about people who learn just a little about martial arts, the stock market, or criminal activity and then get the crap beaten out of them, lose their money, or wind up in jail. In this case, I think it’s more that the OP just thinks there’s too much verbal masturbation going on and that if posters here didn’t regard themselves as being so smart there would be less of that going on. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/44 "2009-01-07T00:31:12Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I love the phrase “too smart for their own good”. It is so smug, condescending, arrogant, and self-congratulatory of deep ignorance. It means “I know better than fancy educated people” even though I haven’t a clue why. It has a “get off my lawn” feel to it. It’s almost certainly an Americanism, and can be found back to the 1870s. It started being used more prominently in the 1890s. samclem, too smart for his own good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/45 "2009-01-07T00:58:21Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > Lenny. Sorry for being dense but could you explain the Agnew reference? During the first Nixon administration, comedian/impressionist David Frye came out with a couple of albums of Nixon satire. In one of the sketches, he’s calling Spiro on the carpet for making (presumably) his “nattering nabobs of negativism” speech. 'Cept Spiro is too, errr “special” to follow along with the chewing out, and Dick has to talk him through it. At one point, Spiro gets bored, and says “Dick, tell me about the rabbits.” ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/46 "2009-01-07T01:01:12Z")
People on this board are just too smart for their own darn good… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/47 "2009-01-07T01:06:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > During the first Nixon administration, comedian/impressionist David Frye came out with a couple of albums of Nixon satire. In one of the sketches, he’s calling Spiro on the carpet for making (presumably) his “nattering nabobs of negativism” speech. 'Cept Spiro is too, errr “special” to follow along with the chewing out, and Dick has to talk him through it. > > At one point, Spiro gets bored, and says “Dick, tell me about the rabbits.” That’s what I love about the Dope - no matter how obscure the reference, someone gets it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/48 "2009-01-07T01:21:07Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > I don’t think it is possible to be too smart for your own good. It is possible to think you are smarter than you are and for that to be detrimental. General distribution of population would almost guarantee that there are people like that on this board. I think it _is_ possible to be too smart for ones own good - to perhaps be so scrupulously exact and pedantic as to find it difficult to function in the real world. I’m not sure that’s what people generally mean when they use the phrase, however. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/49 "2009-01-07T01:32:31Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > During the first Nixon administration, comedian/impressionist David Frye came out with a couple of albums of Nixon satire. In one of the sketches, he’s calling Spiro on the carpet for making (presumably) his “nattering nabobs of negativism” speech. 'Cept Spiro is too, errr “special” to follow along with the chewing out, and Dick has to talk him through it. > > At one point, Spiro gets bored, and says “Dick, tell me about the rabbits.” OK, but that would mean the Agnew reference is really just the Lenny reference so I don’t get why **Voyager** asked if it was… Ohhhhhhhhh!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/50 "2009-01-07T01:42:00Z")
Being raised a country boy we occasionally met folks who was too smart for their own good. People with high IQs and impressive degrees sometimes lacked a certain common sense , or at least, seemed unable to admit their ignorance in areas where us hicks knew more than they did. They were over confident in their smarts and it sometimes got them in trouble. Me and cousin Zeke sho had a few good laughs about that and we’d say, that there fella is too dam smart for his own good. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/51 "2009-01-07T02:02:39Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > I’m too smart for my own darn good. I’m trying to get dumber. Posting in threads like this one seems as good a start as any! LOL (seriously, I did) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/52 "2009-01-07T03:48:54Z")
[Paging **Stan Shmenge,** a/k/a **Happy Wanderer!**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=500538) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/53 "2009-01-07T05:16:50Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > That’s what I love about the Dope - no matter how obscure the reference, someone gets it. The routine won me a few ribbons at Southern California high school speech tournaments. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/54 "2009-01-07T05:21:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think it _is_ possible to be too smart for ones own good - to perhaps be so scrupulously exact and pedantic as to find it difficult to function in the real world. I’m not sure that’s what people generally mean when they use the phrase, however. That’s called obsessive/compulsive disorder and affects not so smart people too. Or so I’ve been told. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/55 "2009-01-07T14:48:40Z")
I doubt that there is any particular correlation between intelligence and the desire to argue for argument’s sake, or to win a debate no matter what. The intelligence distribution curve for die-hard blow-hards is probably no different than the curve for the general population. It is a sad fact that most threads that run past five pages have devolved into two Dopers shouting past each other. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/56 "2009-01-07T16:03:40Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > I don’t think it is possible to be too smart for your own good. It is possible to think you are smarter than you are and for that to be detrimental. General distribution of population would almost guarantee that there are people like that on this board. True, but intelligence isn’t the same thing as common sense or intellectual integrity. A person with high intelligence but without sound practical judgment or respect for facts, language and logic may well do more harm than good, and he may well mislead and injure himself. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/57 "2009-01-07T16:12:49Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I love the phrase “too smart for their own good”. It is so smug, condescending, arrogant, and self-congratulatory of deep ignorance. It means “I know better than fancy educated people” even though I haven’t a clue why. It has a “get off my lawn” feel to it. I prefer “too clever by half.” It seems much more precise. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/58 "2009-01-07T19:48:42Z")
I remember reading a while back in a Cecil column that the only SDMB consensus ever reached was that Bugs Bunny was indeed funnier than Mickey Mouse. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/59 "2009-01-07T19:59:02Z")
Mickey Mouse is funny? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058/60 "2009-01-08T01:59:06Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > In this case, I think it’s more that the OP just thinks there’s too much verbal masturbation going on and that if posters here didn’t regard themselves as being so smart there would be less of that going on. Hey, that’s half the fun. I think everyone can enjoy a good verbal wank every now and then. And like you and others have said, it’s not that anyone IS too smart for their own good, but that some people’s opinion of their own smarts is too high for their own good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-people-on-this-board-too-smart-for-their-own-darn-good/480058.md?page=4)