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You may know a person that is really intelligent: they have college degrees, they have written papers, they understand concepts that most people believe are out of their reach, yet they still do some things that make them look kind of stupid.

They may be more quiet or ask a lot of questions with seemingly obvious answers. However, according to people on Twitter, these qualities actually mean a person is intelligent.

Image credits: Mike Mozart

Sign-Of-Intelligence-Confused-With-Stupidity

Image credits: MorningBrew

Media company Morning Brew asked Twitter users to name signs that a person is intelligent but that people often confuse with stupidity. Take a look at them and upvote the ones you agree with the most. If you have anything to add, leave it in the comments!

More info: Twitter

Bored Panda has written a fun article in which intelligent people with several degrees confessed what stupid things they have done that caused them embarrassment. If you would like to read it, you can click here after you’re done reading through this thread.

This time, people on Twitter were discussing the things that mean a person is actually intelligent but that others would think is a sign of stupidity. A lot of them were repeating that a silent person, a person that asks a lot of questions and a person who isn’t afraid to admit that they don’t know something may indicate that they are thoughtful, thinking things through carefully and not pretending to know it all.

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Vicky Z
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is mostly a sign of not being an arrogant stubborn douche bag

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There are more qualities that an intelligent person possesses. Among the above mentioned traits, various psychology research papers say that people who have higher IQ read a lot, are open-minded and are not afraid to change their point of view. They also enjoy their own company and they usually have a great sense of humor. 

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Higher intelligence was also tied with being taller, having a smaller waist and having learnt a musical instrument. Psychologists say that older siblings tend to be smarter than the younger ones. And various experiments reveal that left-handed people have a more creative way of thinking.

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Jo Johannsen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Epitome and hyperbole are two I still occasionally pronounce wrong simply out of habit.

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LAWLAWLAW
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do this a lot, I read so much and then look stupid using perfectly correct and appropriate words but saying them incorrectly

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Squawkleo
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm British but have lived most of my life in Germany. So a lot of my English Chinese from reading. My word is "awry". In my head it's pronounced awe-rie.

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BookCrazyTeen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes yes yes, I read so much and so I often find myself pronouncing words wrong because I only read them, and never say them.

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Reynard
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was at a fancy restaurant and placing the order I mispronounced 'quinoa'. The pretentious server laughed and made fun of me before correcting my pronunciation. Two months later the restaurant went out of business. Making mistakes is part of learning.

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Grace Noyes
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Until I was about 24, I pronounced misled as MY-zled. And I was an English major. 😳

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Cheryl Forbes
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then you see the movie adaptation of the book and you're saying "Oh, oh yeah."

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Thorfin Wolfsbane
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of Bill and Ted: it’s Socrates! Look him up, he’s under Soh-kray-tz

vaelyn avatar
Enlee Jones
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always pronounced the word taciturn as “tacky-turn” in my heard. It was only a year or two ago that I actually heard the word spoken aloud and it’s pronounced “tasuh-turn” and that just seems so wrong.

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jtrisn1
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My first therapist slipped and laughed at me when I said the word omnipotent erong because I've never heard it spoken before. She made fun of me for not knowing how to say the word snd wouldn't move on until I said it correctly.

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Mir Adwari
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hmmm... doesn't sound like a particularly good therapist. I mean, correcting an error is fine, but making fun of you? Rather pathetic of them.

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Kona Pake
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have never heard the word mimosa before until I took high school French. Distant friends laughed at me when they heard me pronounce it the French way.

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Biology muffin
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was little, I had only read the word idiot, and for some reason I'd read it as "I dote" and that's how I pronounced it for a long time.

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Wednesday
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep - hyper-bowl was one I mispronounced for quite a while. I could spell it, define it, but saying it was a challenge... Detritus is another one. I used to pronounce it dee tree us. My husband laughed his little buns off when he heard me say that. bastage...

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Jane Zimmerman
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In 5th grade my teacher had me do HER reading aloud to the class and NEVER corrected me when I pronounced "colonel" exactly as it's spelled, though I read it many times aloud! I was an ADULT before I learned the correct pronunciation!

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Huddo's sister
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a friend who, even now she's 30, still pronounces colonel as colonial. I think she knows it's wrong but can't stop it now.

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Buzz Covington
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used the word "Paradigm" in front of some fellow pilots once, but pronounced it "para-dijum" because I'd never heard it spoken before. Still feel like a fool 20 years later.

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Celtic Pirate Queen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Macabre. My husband & I always say "macawbree". We know it's incorrect, but it's more fun.

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somnomania
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

god, this. if i know i'm going to be explaining or telling something that contains a word i'm not familiar with, i look up how it's pronounced before doing so.

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Arenite
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The on that makes no sense to me is “colonel”. How do you get “kernel” out of that?

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Yort
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people mispronounce words because they’re stupid, though. Let’s not pretend that people say “specific ocean” because they’ve only ever read Pacific.

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Huddo's sister
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Huh, I've never heard it mis-spoken that way, but I have heard 'I pacifically want this'

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Mazer
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love doing it. There is a town in California named Pinole.

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DM
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This happened to me when I learned a new language (Spanish). I could read and understand it long before I could spit the words out of my mouth properly.

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Lee
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was a kid I pronounced row, like the fight, as row, like a boat and my mother still teases me at times. I was 13 and hadn't heard it before.

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Kallen Kneeland
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But . . . We have the internet now and a nice lady tells you how to properly say any word you look up with "pronunciation of [any-word]"

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Dodo
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Tousled. I can't say it properly because my way sounds 'better' to me.

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Kathy L
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"In absentia" and Duquesne - if I don't know better, I tend to say all potential syllables out loud. Makes for some good flubs, for sure.

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Dani Alexander
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The people who mispronounce “specifically” and day “pacifically”

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Zophra
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But said with false confidence so maybe no one knows...

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Venic
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Isn't this just a sign that you're lazy about acquainting yourself with new words?

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fishcake
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is not a sign of intelligence though, only a sign the person reads a lot no?

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DarkAngelNic
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have the same problem - I call it brain-mouth dyslexia. My brain knows exactly what it wants to explain or say but my mouth just can't make it happen.

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It’s nice to read such articles and find that you can relate to the things that are said, because it is hard to value your own intelligence. There is a theory called the Dunning–Kruger effect, which suggests that smart people tend to underestimate their capabilities and people who are less smart tend to think that they are more clever than they are. So if you have some pointers, you can have a clearer understanding of what you may need to work on.

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Daniel Mattock
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always feel the need to start my question with ‘this may be a stupid question’ or ‘just to clarify’

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Vicky Z
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I agree but not having an opinion at all about anything is not good either

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Jo Johannsen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have always had conversations with myself, aloud and in my head. Usually when I am trying to decide between two courses of action.

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Of course, a person can be intelligent and not have these qualities, either mentioned in this list or in other research papers as they only show some tendencies that come up in test groups. Nonetheless, these kinds of generalizations are always good fun if you don't take them too seriously. 

So what do you think of them? Do you find that some of these are not true at all? We are always interested to hear your opinions!

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Nikki Sevven
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My daughter and I do this all the time. I'll have an idea, and she'll improve on it, whereupon I'll accept that her idea is better. However, we both consider these situations to be collaborative efforts. Neither of us is necessarily wrong; instead, we came to the conclusion together.

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BastWren
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just a note...the full expression is, "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back".

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Ryan Deschanel
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people would rather stay in ignorance than admit they don't already know everything.

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Bob Belcher
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a compliance officer this right here is everyday. People expect me to know everything about all regulations in my industry. You know how many different regulatory agencies a single company has to abide by, how many volumes of regulations each one has, and how often they change or get updated? Google, Google is 80% of my job.

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Mohammad Ammar
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't have a strong opinion on anything and it can come across as if I'm hiding my true opinion or that I'm naive or clueless. The truth is, there's soooo much we don't know so it's pointless trying to forge solid conclusions. I'm also skeptical of all forms of news and rely on personal observations more than news reports and second hand stories, because the amount of propaganda out there is frightfully high.

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Theoretical Empiricist
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To the person who downvoted: do you really want a particle physicist swapping out your breaker box?

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Zophra
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No one ever wants to ask- " and what could possibly go wrong here?"

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iblowsheep
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

most issues do not have a black and white, right or wrong "side" some however do for instance, killing someone can have some grey area, sexual assault no.

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BastWren
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I must be missing something. How is this a perceived sign of stupidity?

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El muerto
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the ability to laugh at the most terrible situations is also a very good way to surpass difficulties...most terrible situations are often very ridiculous, life is a parody of itself.

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RMA
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

‘The arts’ can include law, social work, languages, etc. They are the flip side to ‘the sciences’. It is not just mean ‘art’, such as fine art, graphic design, ballet, etc.

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Otter
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Again, not necessarily a sign of intelligence. That may indicate that you're dealing with a bright person who changes their opinions when they receive game-changing information, or you may be dealing with one of those idiots that always believes what the last person told them.

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iblowsheep
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"In your own words. Do you have your own words? Personally, I'm using the ones that everyone else has been using. Next time they tell you to say something in your own words, say, "Nigflot blorny quando floon." George Carlin

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