User:BilCat/Essays/Pretend Your not Pretending

Some people call certain forms and styles of grammar, writing, and speaking "pretentious", and may also apply the term to the people who speak or write that way.

Do you write using a 'future in the past' style, using "would be" instead of "was"? Then you're being pretentious. Do you still refer to certain inanimate objects, such as ships, as "she"? Then you're being pretentious. And stupid. And so on.

I'm not talking about basic grammar rules, which are there primarily to ensure that others can understand what we say and write. I'm not really even referring to formal verses informal styles of writing or speaking. Rather, I'm speaking of a certain kind of prescriptiveness that eschews (Is that a pretentious word?) certain styles because they have been deemed to be pretentious by certain people.

Their solution is that you should write like they do, without using these so-called pretentious forms. In other words, you should adopt a style of speaking and writing that isn't natural for you. You should thus pretend to be something you aren't, which is actually the definition of being pretentious. You should be pretentious so they won't think that you're pretentious. Really.