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HelpRe: Are Roman names pretentious?
in reply to a message by mirfak
I see "pretentious" used often on the board, and I'd like a definition of it. Of course, I can go find the dictionary definition, but I don't think that would help me figure out what people mean when they use it to refer to a name. I really can't figure it out. I can't figure out what people are supposed to be "pretending" when they use certain names. I don't think---I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I don't think---that I've ever used it to describe a name. I don't really understand what it means.
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It means trying to look better/smarter/more sophisticated than you actually are.
Mind you, "to know your ignorance is part of knowledge." So the person perhaps wouldn't know they were 'pretending'. It would be for someone else, who thinks they're smarter, to define the person as pretentious. Are there any names that you think only dumber people would use? Not teenage mom/kre8tive ones, but ones that you think a dumber person would be fooled into thinking is super unique and classy, even though you, with your greater wisdom, have come to realise is not so? It also depends what you think of the individual person. If someone who I thought was dumb used Clementine, I'd say "How pretentious," but if someone I really liked used it, I'd say "Beautiful name."
Mind you, "to know your ignorance is part of knowledge." So the person perhaps wouldn't know they were 'pretending'. It would be for someone else, who thinks they're smarter, to define the person as pretentious. Are there any names that you think only dumber people would use? Not teenage mom/kre8tive ones, but ones that you think a dumber person would be fooled into thinking is super unique and classy, even though you, with your greater wisdom, have come to realise is not so? It also depends what you think of the individual person. If someone who I thought was dumb used Clementine, I'd say "How pretentious," but if someone I really liked used it, I'd say "Beautiful name."
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I think pretentious is when names have certain associations that make them seem to strongly reflect certain values - like being classy, rich, hip, creative, educated, worldly, politically correct, etc. Not that the namers are actually trying hard to appear that way, but just that it seems likely that it's important to them that they believe they are that way (or they are gratified by thinking their kid could be).
Of course it's all in the eye of the beholder. But I think sometimes, if people perceive a name as pretentious, there's often something more to the impression than just the beholder's insecurities. Then, sometimes maybe there isn't.
I try to keep from using the word "pretentious" except in cases where the name has such a strong association that it seems to deliberately invoke an image of wealth or social standing or education. Like "name dropping" names. Usually surname names. Spencer, Chase, Astor, Bentley, Whitney, Carrington, Raleigh, Cohen, Callaway, Kennedy, Flannery, Harper, Windsor ... I used it more liberally here because the OP did.
Of course it's all in the eye of the beholder. But I think sometimes, if people perceive a name as pretentious, there's often something more to the impression than just the beholder's insecurities. Then, sometimes maybe there isn't.
I try to keep from using the word "pretentious" except in cases where the name has such a strong association that it seems to deliberately invoke an image of wealth or social standing or education. Like "name dropping" names. Usually surname names. Spencer, Chase, Astor, Bentley, Whitney, Carrington, Raleigh, Cohen, Callaway, Kennedy, Flannery, Harper, Windsor ... I used it more liberally here because the OP did.
This message was edited 6/25/2012, 8:53 PM
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I feel "pretentious" is just some buzzword, something thrown around to question authenticity of say, someone's taste in names, without real scrutiny. Calling someone a "try-hard" without addressing why. And maybe they are being "pretentious" for whatever reason, or maybe it's just you.
My definition sounds pretentious...
My definition sounds pretentious...
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