Originally Posted by megamay
I totally agree with this! When I was in high school, I THOUGHT that I was being sensitive to the other kids, not sharing my SAT scores or bragging, but now I realize that just the way I talked was different.

High school? I still get weird reactions to my conversational style as an adult, from time to time. I had a neighbor recently who felt the need to pull my DW aside and ask, "What's his deal?" DW had to explain that I'm not putting on any airs... that's just the way I talk.

In school, I did find it useful to sprinkle in some common slang (check the nickname) and the occasional f-bomb, just to make myself appear more relatable/accessible, but beyond that, I've always preferred to just communicate in a way that feels natural to me, and people can either appreciate that, or not, their choice.