You’re smarter than people think you are. At least, you might be—if certain phrases keep slipping into your vocabulary, you could be undermining your own perceived intelligence every time you open your mouth.
Fair or not, people make snap judgments about intelligence based on how we speak. Research on first impressions shows that word choice, sentence structure, and verbal habits shape perceptions within seconds. You might have brilliant ideas, but if they’re wrapped in language that signals otherwise, those ideas won’t land the way they should.
The phrases below aren’t necessarily wrong. Some are grammatically fine. But they’ve become associated with less careful thinking, and using them frequently can make people assume you’re not particularly sharp—even when you are.
Read more: Psychology Says These 7 Common Phrases Instantly Reveal If A Man Is Self-Centered
1. “I could care less”
This one’s a logic problem. If you could care less, that means you currently care at least a little. The phrase you’re reaching for is “I couldn’t care less”—meaning your care level is already at zero and cannot go lower.
It seems minor, but linguistic research shows that misused idioms signal carelessness with language. People who notice the error—and many do—quietly file it away as evidence that you don’t think carefully about what you’re saying.
The phrase is so commonly mangled that some linguists have given up defending the original. But in professional or intellectual contexts, the mistake still registers.
2. “Literally” when you mean figuratively
“I literally died laughing.” No, you didn’t. You’re still here, telling me about it. The word “literally” means something actually happened, not that it felt intense or you want emphasis.
This misuse has become so widespread that dictionaries have started including the informal “emphasis” definition. But in contexts where precision matters—work, academic settings, anywhere you want to seem sharp—using “literally” incorrectly still makes you sound like you don’t understand what words mean.
Language evolution is real, and meanings shift over time. But during the shift, people who use words precisely will judge people who don’t.
3. “For all intensive purposes”
The phrase is “for all intents and purposes.” It means “in every practical sense.” “Intensive purposes” means nothing—it’s a mishearing that’s been repeated enough to feel normal but isn’t.
These kinds of errors are called eggcorns, and they’re surprisingly common. Other examples: “escape goat” instead of “scapegoat,” “doggy dog world” instead of “dog-eat-dog world.” Each one signals that you’ve heard a phrase without understanding it.
The fix is simple: if you’re not sure of a phrase’s exact wording, look it up before using it in important contexts.
4. “Supposably”
The word is “supposedly.” There is a word “supposably,” but it means something different—”capable of being supposed”—and it’s rarely what people intend when they say it.
This substitution happens because “supposably” is easier to pronounce. The -edly ending requires more mouth work than -ably. But ease of pronunciation doesn’t make it correct, and the mistake is noticeable to anyone who reads regularly.
Verbal precision matters more in professional settings than casual ones. You might get away with “supposably” among friends, but in meetings or interviews, it chips away at your credibility.
5. “I seen it”
Standard English requires “I saw it” or “I have seen it.” “I seen it” drops the auxiliary verb and sounds ungrammatical to anyone who grew up with standard dialect rules.
This is partly a class and regional marker—some dialects use “I seen” naturally, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with dialectal variation. But in contexts where standard English is expected, this construction can trigger assumptions about education level that may not be fair but are real.
Sociolinguistics research documents how dialect features get mapped onto intelligence judgments, often unfairly. Being aware of code-switching between casual and formal contexts helps you control how you’re perceived.
6. “Irregardless”
“Regardless” already means “without regard.” Adding “ir-” to the beginning creates a double negative that technically means “with regard”—the opposite of what you’re trying to say.
“Irregardless” has been used long enough that it appears in dictionaries, but it’s almost always flagged as nonstandard. Using it in professional contexts signals either that you don’t know it’s controversial or that you don’t care—neither of which helps your perceived intelligence.
Just say “regardless.” It’s shorter, cleaner, and nobody will question it.
7. “Me and him went…”
Standard grammar puts the subject pronoun first and uses the correct case: “He and I went.” Starting with “me” and using object pronouns as subjects feels casual but reads as uneducated in formal contexts.
The easy test: remove the other person and see if the sentence still works. “Me went to the store” is obviously wrong. So is “Me and him went to the store.”
This doesn’t mean you need to be grammatically perfect in casual conversation. But communication research shows that pronoun errors are among the most noticed mistakes in professional settings.
8. “That’s so ironic” (when it isn’t)
Irony is when the opposite of what you’d expect happens, often in a way that’s darkly fitting. Rain on your wedding day isn’t ironic—it’s just unfortunate. A fire station burning down is ironic. A traffic jam when you’re already late is just bad luck.
Thanks to a certain Alanis Morissette song, an entire generation misuses this word. But people who understand irony notice when you don’t, and it affects how they perceive your thinking.
Critical thinking involves using concepts precisely. If you’re not sure something qualifies as ironic, try “unfortunate,” “coincidental,” or “frustrating” instead.
9. “I could of done that”
This error comes from how “could’ve” sounds when spoken quickly. It sounds like “could of,” so people write it that way. But “of” is a preposition and makes no grammatical sense here. The phrase is “could have.”
In speech, this mistake is nearly invisible. In writing—emails, texts, anything recorded—it jumps out and suggests you don’t read much or haven’t internalized standard written English.
The same applies to “would of,” “should of,” and “might of.” All wrong. All noticeable.
10. “Between you and I”
This one’s a hypercorrection. People learn that “you and me” is often wrong (as in “you and me went to the store”), so they start using “you and I” everywhere—including places where “me” is actually correct.
“Between” is a preposition, and prepositions take object pronouns. “Between you and me” is correct. “Between you and I” sounds fancy but is grammatically wrong.
Hypercorrection often backfires worse than the original error. You’re trying to sound smarter and ending up sounding like someone who doesn’t understand the rule they’re trying to follow.
11. “Anyways”
The word is “anyway.” Adding the “s” is dialectal and informal. In casual speech, nobody cares. In professional or academic contexts, “anyways” sounds like you’re not paying attention to standard usage.
This might seem picky, but that’s kind of the point. Intelligence judgments are often based on small signals—the accumulation of tiny word choices that suggest either careful or careless thinking.
“Anyway” costs you nothing and raises no flags. “Anyways” costs you nothing too, except a small chip off your perceived credibility with people who notice.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: none of these phrases actually measure intelligence. Plenty of brilliant people say “irregardless” and “I could care less.” Plenty of average thinkers speak in polished, grammatically perfect sentences.
But perception matters. How smart you actually are and how smart people think you are can be very different numbers, and the gap between them affects your opportunities. Research on halo effects shows that early impressions—including verbal impressions—color how people interpret everything else about you.
You don’t have to become a grammar snob or police your every word. But knowing which phrases trigger negative judgments gives you a choice. You can use them anyway, understanding the cost. Or you can swap them out and let your actual intelligence come through without static.
The goal isn’t to sound like someone you’re not. It’s to stop accidentally sounding like less than you are.
