How to “Look Smart.”
Friday, September 12th, 2008Today I want to talk about a very important thing. Looking smart.
Of course it is widely known that, unlike the European, every young American wants to “look smart.” Nobody currently knows why but everyone wants to look smart. As any high school nerd, respected mid-
Someone who quite clearly, looks smart.
level liberal arts college professor, or Pulitzer prize winner can tell you it certainly doesn’t help you with the opposite sex. If you need any proof just watch Gilligan’s Island. The Professor, who although clearly the only PhD on the island and the only male who did not physically appear to be a Looney Toons reject, never once got in any episode as much attention from Mary Anne or Ginger as Gilligan got. And I am certain it wasn’t just because Gilligan was the main character!
But still we all want to “look smart.”
And I certainly want to “look smart.” That is the only reason I am doing this blog! That and Eric makes me…
But my weapons are limited. True I like to pretend to care about stuff and get a thrill out of talking about old bands other people haven’t heard of. But I am not going to wear tweed and glasses or start sipping Merlot, or cut my hair. Also I refuse to agree so wholeheartedly with a group’s consensus that it appears that I had already come to their conclusion long ago and am now incredulous at the fact everyone else is only now agreeing with me!
That really only leaves me one avenue to “look smart”; the Drop. You know when you use an oblique cultural reference or obscure word that most people you are speaking to do not immediately recognize and are unwilling to admit ignorance of, but that you present in a manner that assumes people already know what you are talking about, usually in the form of a question? It is really powerful if you use it right. And to do that requires planning ahead.
So here we go!
Words and phrases I intend to drop into conversation this week to make me “look smart”:
recidivism
Albigensian
laconic
sophistry
holistic
Asperger’s syndrome
Gene Simmons
diagonal
quiescence
wu xai
deleterious
funktastic
verisimilitude
gin
peanuts
Manaecheanism
mandala
je ne sais quoi
And BAM! instant “Looking Smart!” See! Not an attractive woman for miles around! Works like a charm.
-Bob
