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In this competitive world, being smart is one of the guaranteed ways to thrive and gain success amid obstacles and challenges. Indeed, for someone to attain his goals in life, he has to know how to deal with people, situations and life in general. Smart people have no problem in this area because they are equipped with the knowledge, training and experience. They also know what they want and how to get it. Another one of their success secrets is that they also happen to know how to talk and express themselves by using smart words.
“I mean” and “like”
One indication that a person is not sure of what he is saying, is when you hear him insert “I mean” and “like” every so often in his sentences. This is not a very smart thing to do, and it will certainly turn your listeners off if you persist on saying these words after every phrase. “Like,” particularly, is an empty word when it is used to connect all the other words in your sentences. Take this for instance: “I mean, you know, “like” I can “like” drive all the way to my house “like” it was not snowing hard.” This example is definitely not an exaggeration because you often hear it from people, especially the young ones, in daily conversations.
Using smart words
Granting that words and phrases such as “like”, “I mean” and “you know” do not sound smart, you can still gain “intelligent points” by inserting some surprise vocabulary words as you talk. You may want to use “ubiquitous” when referring to something that is always present and seen in particular situations. Pointing at a cherry on a cocktail plate for instance, you can quip – “oh the ubiquitous cherry” as you pluck it and put it in your mouth. Smart enough? Here are more smart words that you can drop now and then to earn you more value in any conversation.
Ennui. The word means a lack of enthusiasm or spirit. The synonym is boredom.
Beleaguered. When caught in discussions about conflicts among countries, you can say: “Pakistan is beleaguered as well”, when applicable to the topic. Beleaguered and surrounded are synonyms.
Paradoxical. To point out that something is contradictory, use the word “paradoxical” in place of “inconsistent”.
Oxymoron. Hearing someone use two words that have different meanings, such as: “so unrealistically real,” respond by saying: “Nice oxymoron, buddy.”
Logistics. “We need some logistics.” You can say this to friends while discussing how you can put up a charitable organization. Logistics refers to coordination or execution of an activity.
Quixotic. “No, we cannot do that. It is so quixotic.” Tell this to a co-worker who dreams of living in a community where everyone has a limousine. The word means impossible or impractical.
Anathema. The word is defined as something that is extremely disliked or hated. You can use the term both in spoken and written communications.
Non sequitur. Got legal terms? Non sequitur points out to an illogical conclusion that is said after another statement.
Didactic. To refer to something that has a lesson to teach to people, make use of this term.
Exacerbate. Learning that the president of a country is declaring martial law, leave a comment saying: “That will only exacerbate the situation”, to mean that the move will only worsen the problems of that country.
The objective in using deeper vocabulary words is not really to confuse or leave an impression that you are boasting. It is also a way of educating other people or sharing what you know. Be that as it may, you still need to consider other points if you want to be a well rounded smart person. Make sure you construct sentences properly and your grammar is correct. Check on your pronunciation as well. You will only look foolish if you utter a “smart” word aloud but you are pronouncing it the wrong way. The other aspects you have to check are your mannerisms, posture and eye contact during a discourse.