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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007Obnoxious people
Too often we are obliged to describe someone, usually an adolescent, as a "know-it-all" or a "smart-a.s" or a "spoilt brat" Unfortunately these are colloquailisms. How would you describe such people in a more formal manner? > Too often we are obliged to describe someone, usually an adolescent, as > a "know-it-all" or a "smart-a.s" or a "spoilt brat" > > Unfortunately these are colloquailisms. How would you describe such > people in a more formal manner? Arrogant? And lo, Joanne Marinelli <jozanny@yahoo.com> emerged from the ether and spake thus: >> Too often we are obliged to describe someone, usually an adolescent, as >> a "know-it-all" or a "smart-a.s" or a "spoilt brat" [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Arrogant? Arrogant might suffice to bundle know-it-all, smart-a.s, and spoiled brat together. Taking them one at a time, know-it-all might also be described as "pedantic," which isn't insulting but has some negative connotation, smart-a.s could be the same thing, and a spoiled brat might be described as being "juvenile," a "delinquent," or you could toss in French to seem more formal and say "enfant terrible."  SignatureAaron http://www.fisheyegallery.com http://www.singleservingphoto.com On 05 Jan 2007, Aaron wrote > And lo, Joanne Marinelli <jozanny@yahoo.com> emerged from the > ether and spake thus: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > "juvenile," a "delinquent," or you could toss in French to seem > more formal and say "enfant terrible." That, though, is often -- perhaps even usually -- used admiringly rather than derogatorily. SignatureCheers, Harvey Canadian and British English, indiscriminately mixed For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van > On 05 Jan 2007, Aaron wrote > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > That, though, is often -- perhaps even usually -- used admiringly > rather than derogatorily. Manner may enter into it (I don't think all of the spoiled brat category would fit), but "supercilious" covers a lot of that ground. SignatureBob Lieblich Who has been called supercilious more than once >> On 05 Jan 2007, Aaron wrote >> [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Manner may enter into it (I don't think all of the spoiled brat > category would fit), but "supercilious" covers a lot of that ground. I don't hear supercilious thrown around all that much. It caught my attention in a Seinfeld episode recently, but I think it is becoming one of those words writers or other dandies pull out to be swank. I do not use it at all in everyday conversation, and I am the type to pull out words my nursing aides don't know. My way of using education to distance myself from inner city working class nearly illiterate persons I have no choice but to deal with. I guess that reads whiney--but once in a while I still have to be me. Joanne >>> On 05 Jan 2007, Aaron wrote >>> [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Joanne Another such word is inanition. It is a Norman Mailer favorite, thereby a case in point. > Too often we are obliged to describe someone, usually an adolescent, as > a "know-it-all" or a "smart-a.s" or a "spoilt brat" > > Unfortunately these are colloquailisms. How would you describe such > people in a more formal manner? I do not think there is one word to describe all or each of these types of people. A know-it-all, to me, is a person who takes pleasure in correcting the mistakes of others, a smart-a.s is somebody who frequently replies to others with sarcastic retorts, and a spoilt brat is somebody who has been over-indulged as a child ("spoilt") so that they become petulant when they do not get their own way. Anyway, spoilt ("spoiled" for leftpondians?) is not a colloquialism. Gamma in <121220060555419694%gamma@coldmail.com>: > Too often we are obliged to describe someone, usually an adolescent, as > a "know-it-all" or a "smart-a.s" or a "spoilt brat" > > Unfortunately these are colloquailisms. How would you describe such > people in a more formal manner? Precocious. SignatureCol Morrison > Gamma in <121220060555419694%gamma@coldmail.com>: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Precocious. Well, I would say "impertinent", or perhaps "saucy", although the latter is often used in another context that indicates high-spirited or perky. To me, while "precocious" is formal, it connotes a knowledge in advance of what one expects of a child. As Jesus was on his visit to the temple. But Jesus went home and was subject to his parents. Well, that kind of implies he mightn't have been as humble as need be, doesn't it? But did he show an attitude of scorn or derision of his elders? That, I think is where the "smart-alec" takes a step too far. I wonder how a Hebrew child of his era might have expressed himself as a smart-a.s: "Get with it, you old fogies!" Or maybe just rolling his eyes? Pat Durkin in <mOtoh.30129$hI.27721@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net>: > > Gamma in <121220060555419694%gamma@coldmail.com>: > > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > > > Precocious. It's difficult to come up with a single word or phrase which covers all three of the OP's examples, in the more formal manner requested, since they're merely dismissive insults. Is it possible to insult someone formally? I have my doubts. Still, I would say precocious covers the first two (if not quite the third, which is of a slightly different order). > Well, I would say "impertinent", or perhaps "saucy", although the latter > is often used in another context that indicates high-spirited or perky. I'm not sure about 'saucy' - it has a distinctly archaic feel to it. One imagines women of easy virtue being saucy; or one thinks of its naval connotations, such as: "We sail the ocean blue, And our saucy ship's a beauty..." > To me, while "precocious" is formal, it connotes a knowledge in advance > of what one expects of a child. Not wishing to be dictionary-bound, but my Pocket Oxford has it that precocious is 'often derogative'. I would qualify that by saying that as is often the case, the meaning of a word may be altered by its context. So we might have 'a precocious talent', which is almost complimentary; or we might have 'precocious little git' which decidedly is not. Perhaps the latter phrase would serve well in this case, since the adolescent in question may not understand the insult, and so lose face by not appearing to 'know it all' after all. SignatureCol Morrison |
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