What is the most pretentious thing you've seen someone do?

[kinzarose]

Inspired by another thread. When I was at university there was an older lady who thought she was vair posh, was very keen to have her designer labels on display and loved name dropping brands into conversation. We had a group tutorial over lunch once, so we all ate together. This woman took a two foot (yes, literally) wooden salt and pepper mill out of her bag, stood up and started grinding pepper onto the shop bought sandwich she had with her. It was just the most pretentious thing ever, she was a "food snob" apparently 🤣

St Andrews. Visiting a friend. Someone invited us both to a beach party and when we arrived the meal was full silver service (with waiters) on picnic blankets.

As kids my friend's gran used to take our packed lunches out of our "Curley's" (local supermarket) plastic bags and replace them with marks and Spencer's bags, and take them back off us at the end of the day 😂

I packed a trousseau for my honeymoon in Tuscany!

This was in 2019, and I was 33. I’d been enamoured with the idea since I read ‘I Capture the Castle’ at about age 11.

I had a lovely time deciding on my trousseau outfits 😂

Does that make me pretentious

DHs aunt used to tell everyone that her daughter lived in Windsor.........we helped her daughter move, the house was next door to Slough Fire Station ( a few miles from Windsor and the opposite side of the M4)..........we still joke about it everytime we pass the Slough / Windsor junction on the M4

Director at a previous company. He'd been there since he was 16 and worked his way up. He wasn't from money so liked to show off about having it now.

Something went wrong on his car (a BMW) "that's the problem when you have expensive cars, they have expensive problems"

He lost a glove which I found for him "I should be more careful with £80 gloves!"

It was great for him but I was on less than £5 an hour (I was 20 and it was 2009) and his constant showing off was just mean.

Same pipe smoking guy, when I turned up in a new (saved up for ages) velvet jacket: ‘Is that Norma Kamali?’ ‘Um, no, Miss Selfridge,’

My SIL once said "oh I don't have any general knowledge, I only know niche things"

Talking about school with a woman I used to know socially and mentioned that I’d read a particular play for A level. Think Shakespeare, Chaucer, etc. She immediately gleefully said SHE had done it for GCSE. How very advanced. Much cleverer than the idiots who have no doubt based PhDs on it.

Same person once referred to doing something “in Q3 next year”. I thought I’d misheard so asked her to repeat. To which she smugly said “Q3! It’s what we in the business world say when we talk about summer!”

And told me she was taking antidepressants as her GP said there was no point her trying counselling. She was too intelligent for it to work, apparently; she would just use her superior powers of reasoning to defeat any talking therapy. I was in counselling at the time.

Loads more where those come from.

A school gate acquaintance who keeps dropping into conversation that her youngest child was born in a private hospital. As in:

“Did you eat your lunch nicely today?”
“Yes we had cheese sandwiches.”
“Oh she just loves cheese sandwiches, it’s what they served at the Portland after I had her and I think we all developed a taste for them ha ha ha.”

And another former boss who used to imply close relationships with various slebs. Though he was a very senior psychoanalyst so tbh even if he had worked with the people in question he ought to have kept his mouth shut!

Joined a sewing group locally. Woman there ,very nice, terribly posh, had a husband with a Morgan car.She was sooooooooo proud of this car. No problem. It did start to grate a bit when she mentioned "taking out the Morgan for a spin" every single time we got together. In the end I used to have a little bet with myself of how many minutes in to the session it would take before she would mention the bloody Morgan.

@Avarua

After living a year in Canada aged 23 I came home with a Canadian 'rr' Pretentious as fuck. Thankfully twenty years ago so people might have forgotten.

I don't think of that as pretentious, some people just naturally pick up accents. I know I have but I've lost them again pretty promptly at the next stop 😂

@DaveCoaches

I don’t know if this classes as pretentious or just snobby, but overheard a woman bragging that she knew all the quiz answers about books but none of the ones about TOWIE and reality TV - fair enough but she was really sneery about it.

This drives me mad- the idea that you can't be clever and also enjoy popular things or 'lowbrow' (hate that word) things

I'm intelligent and love Eastenders and Stephen King novels- and this always gets comments- weird isn't it?

@WalkingOnTheCracks

Young woman on her phone, striding through Victorian station….

“No, Aidan, grilled asparagus does not constitute fucking nibbles…”

I love this

I live in a fairly posh-o area these days. But I grew up in a v down to earth family, where there was very little money for luxury. I often have conversations with other Mum's and Dad's which make me smile.

A school Mum was telling me how her DD got to choose to do whatever she wanted for her 3rd birthday. Apparently She chose a trip up the Shard, sashimi for lunch and a night at the Shard Shangri la hotel. That's what I dream of doing for my 50th one day!! But the way the economy is going, at this rate it'll be a Premiere Inn & pub lunch!

@allfurcoatnoknickers

I had to work at a toney prep school. One day, a family came in for a tour and I heard the following exchange:

"Where would you like to go for lunch darling?"

"Mummy I want to go to Nobu for sashimi"

The chid was 6 or 7. I'm 34 and I still haven't been to Nobu!

I don't think that's pretentious - it's just a different lifestyle.

@WheelieBinPrincess

I packed a trousseau for my honeymoon in Tuscany!

This was in 2019, and I was 33. I’d been enamoured with the idea since I read ‘I Capture the Castle’ at about age 11.

I had a lovely time deciding on my trousseau outfits 😂

Does that make me pretentious

Lol trousseaus are standard in Asian, Middle Eastern and African weddings as well as many European and South American weddings. So in my opinion that just makes you normal lol

@BritWifeInUSA

Oh and for true pretentious twattery, the Bolognese thread from last weekend was world-class.

@britwifeinUSA what thread was that? I'm sure I'd love it. My husband is a bolognaise snob!!! He still eats my version but loves to tell me how wrong it is to add this that or the other...

@SoosanCarter

When I was at a Scottish University aeons ago, there was a chap who offered two different kinds of sherry to his visitors, complete with silver tray and sherry glasses. It was the hall of residence later popular with Kate and William.

I thought I was posh having a bottle of Ribena.

Reminds me of a friend of mine in the same hall who had a tea table with a proper tea set and lace tablecloth for his guests. He also always wore his university gown.

I’m not sure he was pretentious, exactly. Just a bit unusual.

@PatchworkElmer

Friend announcing her concerns about Reception curriculum, because “it is nowhere near little Johnny’s level” 🙄🙄

Little Johnny is bright but not exceptionally so. And obviously teachers are trained to be able to stretch more able students as needed- let them assess his abilities and do their flipping job!

Similar one here.

Parent wanted her reception child put on the Gifted and Talented register because she’d learnt how to put the washing machine on at 3 years old. I suspect every parent on here has had a child that has worked out how to turn on an electrical appliance at some point!

@AdoptedBumpkin

I once knew someone who would give fake addresses when buying stuff to sound more upmarket. Then she'd have to collect it.

Unbelievable! Can you imagine how much time they must have wasted?

I needed this thread this morning.

The lady in the other thread who gave her flat a name rather than have an A on its number.

@kinzarose

Thanks for these, woke up and have had a good laugh! Can't remember who asked, but salt/pepper mills aren't in any way pretentious - but bringing 2 foot tall ones to uni to grind over your sandwich whilst making sure everyone is watching - is very pretentious to me. Especially since there is adequate salt and pepper sachets in the shop you bought the sandwich from!

Exactly! It's the same pepper! Restaurants just put it in a big grinder to stop people stealing it.

LobsterNapkin
What's a Canadian "rr" and why is it pretentious? I really need to avoid using it if I ever get to travel to England again.

Yes, as a Canadian I am wondering this too I had no idea.

I'm guessing it means you pronounce your 'r's? Like normal people?

Come to Scotland or Ireland instead of England. We get you grin

Do you think English people don’t pronounce their R’s because we do lol!