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What are some words you swear people use to try and sound smart?
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For each of these, what would you use instead?
I'll take a crack at this one. For what it's worth, I think the first couple are just loanwords from another language which sometimes gets used incorrectly, and the last three are uncommon words in conversation. Know your audience.
"This isn't a meeting about the budget per se"
"This isn't exactly a meeting about the budget"
"The victim met their demise vis a vis poodle attack"
"The victim met their demise by way of poodle attack."
"Steve's a real erudite."
"Steve's a real reader."
"Tom and Jerry is a fun cartoon because of the juxtaposition of the relationship between cat and mouse."
"Tom and Jerry is a fun cartoon because of the oppositeness of the relationship between cat and mouse"
"I don't understand, can you elucidate on that?"
"I don't understand, can you explain?"
Vis a vis is used in an uncommon way here. It typically means "in relation to", "compared with" or "regarding"
"The poodle needs more grooming vis a vis most other breeds of dog"
"The poodle needs more grooming compared to most other breeds of dog"
The use of erudite is slightly wrong. It's an adjective meaning knowledgeable, but you used it like a noun.
"Steve is really erudite"
"Steve is really well-read"
I genuinely thought erudite was a noun. Thanks, TIL
Happy to help! I love uncommon words and love to see them used correctly