Are there more pejorative and disparaging sayings about people who actually know things than about people who pretend to know things? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 hours ago by DandomRude@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I’m talking about derogatory terms like “nerd,” “geek,” “wise-ass,” and so on, as well as sayings like “nobody likes a smart aleck.”

It seems to me that these terms and expressions are used much more frequently in the business world than derogatory terms like “show-off,” “charlatan,” “fraud,” and so on.

I can’t even think of a commonly used saying for the latter. Only: “Fake it till you make it,” which is really more of a reinforcement of the idea that knowledge isn’t very valuable.

Is it just my impression?

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[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

I'd have to guess a majority of people know what they are talking about, or they don't.

Pretending to know something just makes you a liar.

[-] DandomRude@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago

Yeah, sure, but I get the impression that these people are rarely referred to as such. Then again, maybe that’s just my impression.

Just today I had a meeting with a whole delegation of management consultants: three highly paid people, and they all kept throwing out one buzzword after another. When I asked for clarification or rather for detail, however, it quickly became clear that not a single one of them had even a basic understanding of what they were talking about.

this post was submitted on 29 May 2026

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