Pretentious (or "SAT words") you use in conversation

I realized in another thread I used “preclude” which isn’t that uncommon but on par with a lot of the words here.

show a picture of a nebula and point to it, and say that’s what your tool looks like

I use ‘rubric’ a bunch. probably incorrectly.

Do we have a thread for pick-up lines?

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Peruse is like what literally has become - it has become used to mean the opposite of what it actually meant to the point that the dictionary added in the definition meaning figuratively. I think it is at least denoted as being only “used” in that way. But also, that’s what language is. As much as it kills me that literally now also means figuratively…literally.

To me it’s not that literally also means figuratively… it’s that people using the word literally in a sarcastic way has become commonplace.

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yup. I think most people use literally sarcastically. So they’re actually using it correctly.

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“Spendthrift” was used on HotD this season, and it has the opposite meaning of what I thought it meant.

To me, the “thrift” part means that the person is reluctant to spend money. But that is wrong. The real definition is that a spendthrift spends foolishly.

Hm, I thought spendthrift is pretty self explanatory.

You spend thriftly.

Nope.

spend·thrift

/ˈspen(d)ˌTHrift/

noun

  1. a person who spends money in an extravagant, irresponsible way.

As in, JSM, you are a spendthrift.

Oh. That’s what I meant.

Apparently I misunderstood what thrift meant :rofl:

I was thinking swift.

thrift·y

/ˈTHriftē/
adjective

(of a person or their behavior) using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully.

So a person that is spends his money in a thrifty fashion is the opposite of a spendthrift. Confusing, huh?

On the old AO I started a thread using that penultimate in the title, about the TV show “Last Comic Standing” when they had their second season.

I can never solve that cube.

So you are also a spendswift?

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Last night I used ‘profligate’ when I really meant ‘prodigal’. Close in meaning, but the former has a more negative gist.

And it bugs me when people use prodigal incorrectly. It’s not an adjective meaning someone was away for a long time and is returning.

lol.

I did learn prodigal from an SAT word list.

I think lavish was on there too. And squander. I always get tripped up on whether lavish is a verb or an adjective.

Yeah, that’s a pretty common misuse. I think I’ve been guilty of that myself. :grimacing:

It can be either.

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those are the hardest!