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#204577 02/10/12 12:09 PM
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stranger
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This isn't about the word of the day, but the usage example. "Is Alain de Botton the biggest pseud and poseur..." Pseud??? I can see where it came from, but I've never seen it before. Anyone else?

BTW, maybe a poseur is one who uses words like poseur.


Murf
Blacksmith #204597 02/11/12 12:06 AM
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Originally Posted By: Blacksmith


BTW, maybe a poseur is one who uses words like poseur.


laugh


So...whats it about then?? Pseud?
I often hear words being abbreviated in common use/by people who want to appear 'cool'....pseud or pseudo = false.

Candy #204629 02/12/12 06:22 PM
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old hand
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Yep, I've heard it used, but only informally as a (sort of) abbreviation, turned into a noun.


I'm immortal until proven otherwise
Rhubarb Commando #204633 02/12/12 08:13 PM
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Carpal Tunnel
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surprisingly, dates from 1964!

British
: a person who pretends to be an intellectual
short for pseudo-intellectual
First Known Use: 1964
[M-W 11th}

edit: and, of course, OED has the apposite citation..

1964 Spectator 20 Mar. 379/1 The pseuds and intellectual craze-mongers seem to have dropped cinéma-vérité almost as quickly as they took it up.

but it was adjectivized even earlier..

1962 Spectator 26 Oct. 656 Present-day trend-setters, pseud as they come.

Last edited by tsuwm; 02/12/12 08:20 PM.

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