People who use the word "pretentious" are pretentious.

[kane_magus]

That's my take on it, anyway, at least based on most of the cases I've seen the word used on the Internet. It's seems like most people think that it's just a big word that means something along the lines of "thing I don't like." It doesn't. Granted, some people use it correctly, because being pretentious is a pretty crappy thing to be. It certainly explains why people like to use words or phrases such as "irregardless" or "beg the question" or, you know, "pretentious."

Comments

[cody gaisser (from livejournal.com)]

I know many people use "beg the question" as synonymous with "raise the question," but it actually means something quite different.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

[cody gaisser (from livejournal.com)]

Whoops! Just followed the above link and realized that you are already aware of this.