Stormy Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 I overheard a conversation between an elderly couple at breakfast. They were gossiping about a “high falutin” woman. I haven’t heard that phrase since childhood and I don’t think I’ve ever used the phrase to describe another person is this a description used by the over 80 crowd? + azdr0710, BtmBearDad, rhh33 and 1 other 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BtmBearDad Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Haven’t heard that word in ages! 😂 It brings me back to my grandparents’ generation. In my memory, it was a cutting remark, and women were always highfaluting or putting on airs; a man was either a scallywag or a bounder. + Charlie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ azdr0710 Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 samhexum, + cougar, + Oliver and 7 others 3 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ azdr0710 Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 20 minutes ago, BtmBearDad said: a man was either a scallywag or a bounder. did look up scalawag/scallywag for clarification.....I'd forgotten this origin: a white Southerner who collaborated with northern Republicans during Reconstruction, often for personal profit. The term was used derisively by white Southern Democrats who opposed Reconstruction legislation. + Lucky, Marc in Calif, + cougar and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BtmBearDad Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 1 minute ago, azdr0710 said: did look up scalawag/scallywag for clarification.....I'd forgotten this origin: a white Southerner who collaborated with northern Republicans during Reconstruction, often for personal profit. The term was used derisively by white Southern Democrats who opposed Reconstruction legislation. Interesting - I never knew it’s origin! The context matches how I recalled it being applied. I just assumed it was European in origin 🤷🏼♂️ + azdr0710 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike carey Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 2 hours ago, BtmBearDad said: Interesting - I never knew it’s origin! The context matches how I recalled it being applied. I just assumed it was European in origin 🤷🏼♂️ I couldn't find any etymological information about it or of the British usage meaning a rascal (the US usage is news to me), its origin is listed as unknown. It would surprise me if the word crossed the pond without taking a vestige of that meaning with it, so I suspect that it was an obscure word that separately developed its British and US usages. + Charlie and + azdr0710 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeezifonly Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 “High falutin” is a derogatory term usually applied to a writer or speaker, by people who don’t understand all the words used by the writer/speaker. “Unashamedly educated” is more accurate. + Charlie, + azdr0710 and nate_sf 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BtmBearDad Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 @mike carey I suppose I assumed it was European in origin as the family member I recall using it, a great aunt, spent a good part of the teens, twenties, and early thirties of the last century in Europe. When she referred to a scallywag, it was definitely an insult directed at a man of no means/background who was using his charm and other attributes to advance himself at the (usually) financial expense of women. Gosh! As I’m typing, I can hear her voice referring to one fellow who had married “above himself”, as they used to say, to a friend of hers, taken her for pretty penny, and moved on - “He was no gentlemen! He was a scallywag, and a bounder! Poor Millicent!” 🤣 + azdr0710, mike carey and + Charlie 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ WilliamM Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 9 minutes ago, jeezifonly said: “High falutin” is a derogatory term usually applied to a writer or speaker, by people who don’t understand all the words used by the writer/speaker. “Unashamedly educated” is more accurate. It could be applied to folks who go to Operas, read Proust or vacation in Stockholm or Monaco + Charlie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ poolboy48220 Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 to take the opposite view - I consider people who say "utilize" when they really just mean "use" to be high falutin. 😄 jeezifonly, + Charlie, wsc and 4 others 2 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc in Calif Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Here's an extremely high falutin look at possible etymologies. A very enjoyable read by a quintessential pedant!https://blog.oup.com/2010/12/highfalutin/ Luv2play and mike carey 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samhexum Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ Charlie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 My parents used "high fallutin" to describe someone who was "putting on airs." MikeBiDude, Lazarus, Luv2play and 5 others 3 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeBiDude Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 46 minutes ago, Charlie said: My parents used "high fallutin" to describe someone who was "putting on airs." This is my experience with the term as well. + Charlie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudynate Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 6 minutes ago, MikeBiDude said: This is my experience with the term as well. I don't think I have ever heard a real person say "high fallutin" - just in movies and TV. I think I can remember one time hearing "putting on airs." It was said by the cleaning lady in an apartment building where I lived in Denver, a LOT of years ago. She grew up on a farm in Southern Indiana. + Charlie and MikeBiDude 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) On 2/27/2023 at 11:09 AM, Stormy said: ... is this a description used by the over 80 crowd? I think it may be a description used more by a red-neck. I can't imagine my 92 year-old step-mother every saying "high-fallutin'." But I can imagine a hillbilly using that term to describe, for example, the language of a sophisticated city-slicker. "Why y'all usin' that high-falutin' language round these parts?" Edited February 28, 2023 by Unicorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc in Calif Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 From The Music Man: (Mrs. Paroo) "When a woman's got a husband, and you've got none, why should she take advice from you? Even if you can quote Balzac and Shakespeare and all them other high-falutin' Greeks." Luv2play, TruHart1, + WilliamM and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ Autumnal Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 I remember hearing high-falutin' (not quite 80 yet!) and my understanding was that it described someone who put on airs, or presented themselves as better than others - especially when they were not. As an example - "She thinks she's so high-falutin' but she's no better than the rest of us". Luv2play, MikeBiDude, thomas and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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