# Help me find a word more pretentious than "précis" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 26, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376 "2010-10-26T03:12:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/61 "2010-10-26T19:48:11Z")
I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never seen in print nor heard spoken the word “precis”. I get the gist of it’s meaning but how is it pronounced? Also , I more than make up for that bit of ignorance by continuing to pronounce “empire” as “ohmPEER” (when speaking of fashion, not "The Evil), which I honestly never knew had any other pronunciation until I received a smack down with the humility stick right here on this message board. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/62 "2010-10-26T19:58:31Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I get the gist of it’s meaning but how is it pronounced? “pray - seize” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/63 "2010-10-26T20:03:44Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > “pray - seize” Thank you. So, related to “precise” obviously(?) Gotta throw this one out at a party soon 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/64 "2010-10-26T20:05:17Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never seen in print nor heard spoken the word “precis”. I get the gist of it’s meaning but how is it pronounced? In English, no idea. In French : pray-see. The -s is most definitely silent. (well, not really - but y’all don’t got no “é” sound nor short /i/s, so, close enough) ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/65 "2010-10-26T20:12:40Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > “pray - seize” Gulp - I’ve been pronouncing it “pray see” all these years - a la French it seems, or is it the one French word the English haven’t anglicized? It’s been USianized instead? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/66 "2010-10-26T20:14:27Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > I think you can still be pretentious if you use a word correctly. If you use a word to make yourself appear better than everyone else because of your vocabulary, and the word only makes you sound more obtuse, then you’re being pretentious. That fits too. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/67 "2010-10-26T20:25:16Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > There is a certain pretentiousness with pronouncing foreign words with a different accent than your standard accent. So yes, the mere act of doing it is pretentious Buh? I think it may depend somewhat on the word. I might roll my eyes a bit at someone who took _great_ pains to render a word like “souvenir” as it would be spoken by a francophone, “I still have a Mickey Mouse hat with my name stitched on it as a… _souvenir_… of Disneyland.” On the other hand, I think the boss who gives me “cart blank” on a project comes across as more of a buffoon than than he might if he made some small attempt to approximate the pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/68 "2010-10-26T20:41:02Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > In English, no idea. In French : pray-see. The -s is most definitely silent. > > (well, not really - but y’all don’t got no “é” sound nor short /i/s, so, close enough) > [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > Gulp - I’ve been pronouncing it “pray see” all these years - a la French it seems, or is it the one French word the English haven’t anglicized? It’s been USianized instead? I screwed up. The “s” is silent. I just realized that I’ve been pronouncing it wrong for years. Not that that is a huge deal though. I use the word so rarely, I never noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/69 "2010-10-26T20:50:25Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > If your entry in the Waffle King Placemat Coloring Contest has a précis, you’re being pretentious. I was robbed. My dissertation on staying within the lines was a MASTERPIECE! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/70 "2010-10-26T21:16:42Z")
My English is peppered with correctly pronounced French (and vice versa, actually!). I imagine I’d come across as incredibly pretentious if I were to meet some of you, and it is bizarre to think that some people might expect me to deliberately mispronounce French words just to make them comfortable. Or would it be ok because I’m from Quebec? How could you tell, though, if I used a French term before you found out where I was from? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/71 "2010-10-26T21:41:39Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > My English is peppered with correctly pronounced French (and vice versa, actually!). I imagine I’d come across as incredibly pretentious if I were to meet some of you, and it is bizarre to think that some people might expect me to deliberately mispronounce French words just to make them comfortable. > > Or would it be ok because I’m from Quebec? FWIW, I’m a France French, and a translator who’s struggling with the constant threat of alingualism (as opposed to the bilingualism target). That is to say, many times the correct French word or expression just doesn’t come to me when the perfect English equivalent springs up and vice versa. I of course strive to get both languages right, and in my work I won’t be content with sprinkling my work with foreign words and idioms and calling it a day. In casual speech, however… I’ve been accused of being a poser in both languages. The English-speaking crowd thinks I’m trying to be all high falutin’ elite and shit, the French think I’m trying to be hip, cool and trendy. Can’t blame them I guess, but it’s _casse-burnes_ all the same, \*non \*? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/72 "2010-10-26T21:47:03Z")
You want a pretentious word? If I may quote Admiral Ackbar: “It’s satrap!” ---
**Author:** ![Walmarticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Walmarticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walmarticus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/73 "2010-10-26T22:20:42Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I thought this board was dedicated to fighting ignorance, not celebrating it. 😕 I’ve never heard this word in my life. And I’ve heard **a lot** of words. I agree with the OP. If any teacher ever told us to write a précis, I’d dismiss him as a pretentious wanker. Not because the word has special voodoo-pretentious sauce, but because it’s totally out of place with the speaker’s audience. We use _abstract_ 'round these parts. I’m not going to join a grunge band and sing songs about ennui. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/74 "2010-10-26T22:31:12Z")
I think soupcon fits the category. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/75 "2010-10-26T22:46:45Z")
Can I still call someone a “douche” without coming across as a cultural elitist? ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/76 "2010-10-26T23:06:36Z")
[here is the list of synonyms from Merriam-Webster:](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precis) > [@](#): > > **Synonyms:** [abstract](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abstract), [breviary](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breviary), [brief](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brief), [capsule](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capsule), [conspectus](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conspectus), [digest](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/digest), [encapsulation](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encapsulation), [epitome](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epitome), [inventory](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inventory), [outline](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outline), [summary](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/summary), [recap](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recap), [recapitulation](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recapitulation), [résumé](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resume) (_or_ [resume](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resume) _also_ [resumé](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resume)), [roundup](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/roundup), [rundown](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rundown), [run-through](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/run-through), [sum](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sum), [summa](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/summa), [summarization](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/summarization), [summing-up](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/summing-up), [sum-up](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sum-up), [synopsis](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synopsis), [wrap-up](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wrap-up) I quite like “conspectus”. It still lets you sound like a douche bag without being a _pretentious_ douche bag. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/77 "2010-10-26T23:08:01Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Can I still call someone a “douche” without coming across as a cultural elitist? As long as you’re comparing them to something you stick into dirty vaginas, and not your basic average shower, you’re fine. Can it be that in your attempt to be clever you didn’t know that “douche” has a somewhat different, and entirely non-pejorative meaning in French? haHA. Pretentiousness: gentlemen, I give you Exhibit A. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/78 "2010-10-26T23:25:01Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Can it be that in your attempt to be clever you didn’t know that “douche” has a somewhat different, and entirely non-pejorative meaning in French? Naw, my daughter’s bilingualism is coming along a lot easier than my poor efforts in that direction – it’s a word she uses fairly regularly, whenever her mum’s in the shower. I’m afraid that I’m not still grown-up enough not find this a little amusing, coming from an eighteen-month-old: “Douche! Douche!” ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/79 "2010-10-26T23:30:29Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > I’m afraid that I’m not still grown-up enough not find this a little amusing, coming from an eighteen-month-old: “Douche! Douche!” If snickering at that is wrong, I don’t want to be right. 🙂 sounds darn cute. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376/80 "2010-10-26T23:39:21Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > If you intentionally use words your listening audience is quite unlikely to understand, you’re not only pretentious, you’re a very ineffective communicator… Tailor your word choice to your audience and you’ll always do fine. It can take a bit of tuning. Using _fait accompli_ in front of an audience of a dozen or so middle-aged professional mid-westerners and getting back an equal number of blank or puzzled looks was a clue to alter my language use. _Fortnight_ was doubleplusungood too – but more for dialectal reasons. (Kiwi who gets “accused” of sounding English). 🙂 > [@gonzomax](#): > > I think soupcon fits the category. That’s be _soupçon_… a soupcon sounds like a gathering of like minded fanciers of liquid food. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-a-word-more-pretentious-than-precis/558376.md?page=5)