Want to Impress Your Valentine’s Day Date? Stop Trying to Sound So Smart
Why using smart words on a date may be a dumb romantic move
We all know that person: The one who drops ten dollar words into casual conversations for no apparent reason — and oftentimes, they don’t even realize they’re using those words incorrectly. In fact, a survey of 1,900 people by Preply found that 58 percent of respondents used a complex vocabulary to sound smarter, even if they had no idea what those words actually meant.
Although people think this is a sure way to impress someone, Preply’s Matt Zajechowski warns it will probably have the opposite effect.
“Having a large vocabulary can be important in more ways than one.”
“Few people have the patience to read or listen to artificially complex language,” Zajechowski said. “You’ve probably come across business memos that were written in such dense language that you had no idea what they meant. That’s even if you were able to get through them.”
And the words people liked to use to try to impress others with their intellectual prowess? Study participants listed these words the most:
- Articulate
- Ambiguous
