To think some words don't belong in informal conversation

[Thrif]

There are certain words that, whilst technically correct, make a person sound completely up themselves when used out loud.

Whom is the worst. Whilst is another

LaQueen
&

vous êtes magnifique

tru dat sista

solipsism

just learnt it today. I explained to BabyZing what it meant. he grinned then farted.
early signs of being a solipsist?

How lovely to witness a discussion and not a whole pile of YABU fuckers

Splendid thread, in the end.

What I don't understand is why having a decent grasp of grammar and vocab always has to be seen as a thing or a social statement. Sometimes, it just comes out!

The English language is a marvellous thing, and we should all use and abuse it to the most of our abilities.

I'm 30 and was mocked the other day by someone older than me for 'speaking posh'. I'd almost forgotten what it feels like .

My mum always chooses the more pretentious alternatives to ordinary words & sayings.

"I'm going back to my home house"
"They've built some new dwellings houses on the old supermarket site"
"The cake was quite acceptable I liked the cake "

I have no idea why she does this - it is a new thing - she was never like this years ago.

Is home pretentious?

Not as such, but compared to house it sounds it - when she says it.

I would never say "Would you like to come to my home for coffee?" for example

witch

does she says "come to my home for what I call coffee?"

WitchWay Does she watch a lot of cooking shows and home and garden television? That might be the culprit. You'll know for sure if she starts referring to a room as a "space."

I'd never thought that home could be pretentious. I don't think I can keep up here. [worried]

Which is better of these two?

1. Would you like to come to my home for coffee?
2. Would you like to come to my flat/bungalow/maisonette for coffee?

"come to my home for what I call coffee?"

Wouldn't that be a subtle, polite way of warning you it's not coffee, but chicory powder? So you can turn the offer down gracefully?

Tilly

I vote palace or castle

oh that's a Miranda reference.

her pretentious mother says "what I call xyz" and Miranda gets annoyed because everyone calls it xyz.

Slight derail here, but I have two friends who are currently trying to sell their houses (this is in the US). They report a definite increase in pretentious language among the viewers from their experiences of selling in years past. They blame this on the plethora of house hunting/decorating shows on TV.

I hope no one on here thinks I am being pretentious for saying "plethora."

Scone

since you know how to correctly pronounce "scone" it is doubtful anyone would dream of accusing you of being pretentious

But laqueen, a myriad of birds or whatever is actually correct - check out the Oxford dictionary.

I don't like your frequent incorrect use of commas, by the way!

I also say "perforce" now and then. Well, actually I don't say it out loud, but I do write it.

Thanks, Zing. I learned how to pronounce scone when I was a student in Scotland many years ago. But when scones became a thing in the States, this pronunciation did not catch on. I am on a one-woman mission to change that.

Oh, I just realized that the baristas in my local Starbucks probably think I am pretentious in asking for my usual cranberry orange "scon." But then, on the other hand, the do call themselves baristas . . . .

Tis I, La Clerc

yeah what's with the barista thing? sounds like you should address them as "my learned colleague"!