10 phrases only highly pretentious people use, according to psychology

If you haven’t been living under a rock this past decade, you would have heard of, or even watched the hit sitcom, How I Met Your Mother.

You’d also know our main character and narrator, Ted Mosby, known for his pretentious quirks that are endearing and annoying to his friends, in equal measure. 

For instance, Ted tends to correct other people’s pronunciation of words (“It’s encyclopAEdia!”) and grammar, bordering on pedantic. 

If you’re looking for confirmation whether someone you know (or even your own self) is just a little eccentric or downright pretentious, look no further.

In this article, we’ll be looking at several phrases only highly pretentious people use, according to psychology.

(Fair warning, I’m going to use examples of characters from movies or TV shows to elaborate on a few of my points.)

1) “We like to summer at the…”

Using “summer”, “winter”, or “vacation” as verbs is a surefire sign of a pretentious individual.

If you’re a Friends fan, you might remember the episode where Phoebe meets boyfriend Mike’s upper Eastsider parents for the first time, and in her nervousness, adopts a nasal, snobby voice, saying, “So where does everyone summer?”

Using these particular nouns as verbs may originate all the way from 15th century England. Oxford English Dictionary assistant editor Trish Stewart said that later, in the 18th century, they started being used in this way once there were “people with money or leisure time.”

2) “I only eat organic.”

Another sign of highly pretentious people is taking it upon oneself to consume organic–and ONLY organic–food. 

Sidewalk vendor hotdogs? Hole-in-the-wall Chinese food spots? If the food isn’t farm-to-table or if the place doesn’t have a hipster feel to it, no thank you.

This is not to say that organic or eating healthily is bad. But looking down on others who don’t–or can’t afford to–do the same is where the problem lies. It implies that they’re better than everyone else.

This is especially embarrassing when they are invited to another’s home for a meal, only to waste the host’s time and effort spent on making dinner because they “only eat organic.”

3) “I’m actually Dr…”

When introducing oneself to new people, you normally just give your name, not your professional title.

In a professional setting, it’s appropriate, but in a more casual context, it’s likely unnecessary.

Pretentious people are very concerned about how others will perceive them.  

In multiple episodes of Friends, Ross Geller points out that he isn’t just “Mr.”, but “Dr.”, owing to his career as a paleontologist.

A pretentious person may have worked hard to gain their title and they deserve to be recognized for it. But there’s a time and place for everything.

Going out of their way to make sure others know what their title is can come off as arrogant or conceited.

4) “You won’t believe how much this cost me!”

A person who brags about things they bought or travels on which they spent exorbitant amounts of money…when in reality, they can’t afford it.

This is a type of pretentiousness called “the boastful man”, one of the Characters described by ancient philosopher Theophrastus, Aristotle’s colleague:

“[He will stand in the bazaar talking to foreigners of the great sums which he has at sea; he will discourse of the vastness of his money-lending business…contending, too, that the Asiatic artists are superior to those of Europe; and all this when he has never been out of Attica.”

Pretentiousness manifests itself as boasting, name-dropping, and showing off, despite it not being real. 

5) “That’s not how the locals did it.”

You’re out with some friends to try out the trendy Argentinian restaurant that just opened.

Doesn’t it just kill your night when one of your group takes it upon herself to tell you all how you’re supposed to eat which dish–all because they spent a week in Argentina that one time?

Pretending to be an expert in a certain area when really they are not is an extension of the Boastful Man.

As opposed to someone who’s spent years studying or working in a specific field, or one who’s lived in a certain place all their life, there are few things as off-putting as a know-it-all who does not really know it all.

6) “It’s name brand or nothing for me.”

This pretentious phrase is best explained by the quote, “Money can’t buy class.”

Have you ever seen someone who’s never seen in public without wearing name-brand clothing from head to toe?

If you recall, a pretentious individual cares about how they are viewed by others. In this case, donning luxury items is geared at impressing others with how much they can spend.

7) “I prefer the classics”

In another crowd favorite sitcom, Modern Family, we find another sometimes-pretentious character: Manny (portrayed by Rico Rodriguez).

Described as an “old man in a kid’s body”, Manny is Gloria’s (Sofia Vergara) son from her first marriage. He was his mother’s best friend especially during hard times before Jay (Ed O’ Neill) arrived.

As stepson to this well-to-do businessman, Manny has enjoyed certain perks: upscale hotels, fine food, luxurious baths, and basically everything that fell under the self-pampering category. 

Unlike the other kids, he was into musicals, plays, flowery poetry, dance, and improv. 

What the show ended up with was a spoof of a hipster intellectual, Manny, who rolled his eyes at his sillier family members.

The thing is, they rolled their eyes at him, too.

8) “Oh, I thought you were joking.”

As mentioned earlier, pretentious people are condescending to those who don’t share their same tastes.

They tend to believe that their interests and ways of doing things really are the best, and that they are superior to others.

For instance, in HIMYM, Ted’s college girlfriend, Karen, was the epitome of pretentiousness. In one episode, Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall (Jason Segel), dressed in wrestling costumes complete with face paint, meet Ted and Karen to go to a wrestling match. 

Seeing them in ridiculous-looking outfits, Karen adopts a disdainful face and says, “Oh…you were serious?”

Buzzkill, right?

9) “I just had to have it.”

Similar to purchasing only name-brand items, buying something they don’t need solely because it has an up-and-comer’s name on it, is something the pretentious would do.

Be it an artist, designer, jeweler, or furniture maker, a pretentious person believes that this will make him or her look good in front of other people.

It will help others perceive them in a good light, as someone who they should associate with.

10) “That’s so pretentious.”

It might be surprising, but this is indeed a phrase only highly pretentious people use.

In their minds, pretentious people don’t think they are being pretentious. They use this term to dismiss things they don’t think are worthy of their consideration.

Final thoughts

Despite the stigma surrounding pretentiousness, a case could be made for us calling other things pretentious simply because we’re not the ones doing them.

Pottery? Fine art? Interpretative dance? Ballet? Tea time? What is normal or cool for other people may be pretentious to some.

The key to distinguishing whether someone is pretentious–and not in a good way–is by checking how often they say these phrases as well as how they act and behave towards others.