Saturday, March 19, 2011

Words and phrases people use to make themselves sound more intelligent

I saw this topic on a forum I was surfing around the other day - words and phrases people use to make themselves sound more intelligent.

The forum listed words like:
_______ said
in retrospect
nostalgic
collusion
discombobulated
copacetic- my grandma used to use that one ALL THE TIME
in and of itself
at the end of the day
counterintuitive
per se

Some that I thought of:
experts say
you know
one can understand
like
such as
satisfactory
acceptable

What are some of the words you use to make yourself sound more intelligent?

Hopefully, at least you use the words in an appropriate manner!

8 comments:

Phunk Factor said...

Every single time I watch that video I burst into feeling sorry for tht girl...she really absolutely had no idea what she had to say...and she made a complete utter mess of herself!

Aek said...

I don't really use specific words/phrases to make myself sound intelligent. Most of the time I just use words/phrases that I've been "trained" to use over time. Some that I can think of include:

studies suggest
per se
as it were
technically
in other words
reduces (instead of prevents)
in my experience

I'm not sure if the above make me sound more intelligent or not though, hehe.

Anonymous said...

I think "like" makes you sound more intelligent? Lol!

regardless (and not irregardless)

et cetera (vs. 'ecsetera', the way many people pronounce it)

octopodes (the original plural for 'octopus')

be that as it may

all things being equal

Anonymous said...

Oh, and "frequently", versus "very", "often", "a lot", etc. It's a linguistics thing.

Anonymous said...

I usually say "I really don't
know"! Which, by the way, is
the truth. :)

fan of casey said...

Mike: People can babble on with all kinds of words, what's usually missing is some critical thought and analysis. That's why you have to watch this clip that analyzes what Miss. South Carolina just said:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEHMA1q-SSM

Mind Of Mine said...

In retrospect.
Open to Interpretation.
As per usual.
In hindsight.

Mike said...

@ Everyone: Your responses are awesome! I agree with so many of the words that you posted! Stupendous! LOL... attempt at using an extraordinary word to make myself sound more intelligent that I wouldn't use in everyday conversation.