I think if we were honest with ourselves, many of us would make that same admission. So, here’s your chance to not only come out of that closet but, as pretentiousness is highly competitive, beat your fellow Dopers with just how pretentious you are. I’ll start it off:
I’m so pretentious that, when I have a song stuck in my head driving me crazy, it is often a Kurt Weill/Bertholt Brecht song. Not one of the famous ones, either. In German. And I don’t really speak German.
Since checking my grades online, I’ve started wondering how I can subtly work my straight A’s into casual conversation.
Does this count as pretension or just plain geekiness?
I pronounce the word either “eye-thur” rather than “ee-thur.” It’s not because of the local accent where I grew up, either, I switched on purpose because I think it sounds classier.
I’ll tell you, casually of course, that I set two new production records at my job this month, and just yesterday moved 100 (yes, that’s 100) tons (and yes, that’s tons) of books by hand in 12 hours.
Damn, I’m good. But I’d never tell anyone that, since I’m just so modest.
Which one? I’ve sung most of Die Dreigroschenoper, Die Sieben Todsünden is rarely performed, and I haven’t seen Aufstieg Und Fall Der Stadt Mahagonny in a long time. (Of the solo songs, “Und Was Bekam Des Soldaten Weib?” is one of my all-time favorites).
I did that too! And I also keep the fork in my left hand when using a fork and knife…
Also, when someone mentions that an unusual word was used (or coined) by Shakespeare, I make a point of supplying the quote in which it appears without looking it up.
I’ve broken up with people over their poor table manners
I also pronounce “Eye-thur” and “nye-thur”
I insert literary quotes (with citations) into casual conversations, business meetings and minutes reports
I use Latin/Greek plurals on words that have become Anglicized: “Foci” rather than “focuses”, “pentia” rather than “pentiums”, etc.
I correct people who use “data” in place of “datum” or who simply apply a singular conjugation to “data”
I try to only buy books in first editions. This has made for some wonderful pieces in my library, but I have to tell you, my copy of the Torah was a bitch to track down.