Forbes February 10, 2025
Ever wish you could appear smarter than you are? Seinfeld’s George Costanza often ran into this problem. Often intellectually overmatched, he devised all kinds of tricks to seem clever. Once he even convinced his pal Elaine to complete an IQ test for him just so he could impress his girlfriend.
But my favorite George solution to the not-appearing-dumb-problem?
He’d mutter something incoherent when asked a challenging question. Here’s an example: In episode 2 of season 8, “The Soul Mate,” George gets put on the spot when asked to name his favorite poet.
Unfortunately, George cannot think of one. Wishing to save face at a board meeting for his late fiancé’s charity, George mumbles the name “Nastrikov”—clearly someone he just invented...
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