high-falutin'

Question

Whats that mean? enter link description here

Answer 1

Highfalutin (also spelled hifalutin)

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1. Pretentious, Fancy

2. Expressed in or marked by the use of high-flown bombastic language : pompous.

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Example:

The wealthy politician would've had more luck with his campaign speech if he hadn't used such highfalutin language.

El político rico habría tenido más éxito con su discurso electoral si no habría utilizado ese lenguaje tan presuntuoso.

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source

Yeah, kind of a hillbilly word: ) - Ranman, Dec 16, 2013

Answer 2

Here is the etymology of the word for those who are wondering. =]

I found it super interesting so I thought I'd share. =D

The word comes from the English "fluting" and "high" and was most popular in usage in the mid-19th C.

Very nice amiga! - rac1, Dec 16, 2013

Answer 3

“Highfalutin,” means - “pompous, arrogant, haughty, pretentious” or “excessively ornate or bombastic (especially in speech).” The sense of “pretentious” is central to “highfalutin.”

Someone who affects a “highfalutin” manner, acting or speaking in an extremely proper or self-important style, is basically faking it and “putting on airs,” floating along in a balloon of pretense that has no basis in reality (“When all the highfalutin and magical jargon of diplomacy is removed, you’ll find the diplomats like a group of children aged about three or four,” 1948).

Great answer! - rac1, Dec 16, 2013

This is true, we use it still, here in Tiverton, which is not as highfalutin as London, but we know how to speak.. - annierats, Dec 17, 2013

Answer 4

Most people probably heard this term first used in western (cowboy) movies. Typically it was used by someone poor and uneducated as a slur against someone or something above their social level. For example if someone was speaking, using overly technical terms, or saying something hard to understand due to it's complexity, those would be 'high-falutin' words. Or, very expensive clothes, etc. could be criticized as 'high-falutin'

It can also be used as a good natured, informal way to describe something as fancy, or extra nice.

Leaving the (g) off the ending "falutin(g)" is a deliberate way to make the word sound like bad English which re-enforces the 'you think you're better than me' concept that it implies.

Very well stated. - AliD, Dec 17, 2013

Answer 5

I've heard that word a thousand times but never had any idea of how to spell it.

Answer 6

Haha Rey. Where did you hear this? It is rarely used outside of the American rural South, where we use it to describe our high falutin' city folk kin.

I just saw the other thread. - AliD, Dec 16, 2013

i just edited my post, look at the link that i posted - Rey_Mysterio, Dec 16, 2013

Answer 7

Whilst I agree that it's only us highfalutin British people that use it, I'm not sure if the Americans are lowfalutin.

I mean: What is the opposite?

Well, people who use it in the South pretty just think we are normal. I guess a highfalutin' person would use "country bumpkin" to describe their lowfalutin' relatives. ;) - AliD, Dec 17, 2013

Although, a better comparison would be the French: highfalutin' would be the self-proclaimed bourgeosie, the opposite of which is the proletariat, although I've never heard that word used anywhere. - AliD, Dec 17, 2013