Itâs worth being particularly careful of boastful self descriptions; or, worse, boastful self-descriptions that appear to be neutral or even self-deprecating. Itâs the equivalent of giving yourself a nickname like âDutchâ or âAceâ and hoping it sticks. You are asking to be bullied. Some are obvious. If you describe yourself as a âmaverickâ, a âcynicâ, a âreprobateâ, a âprovocateurâ, a âwagâ, or similar, you are on a sure course for others to apply less flattering descriptions to you.
But others are subtler: âscepticâ, ârealist, âradical or âprogressiveâ are all essentially boasts masquerading as statements of fact. âScepticâ says: âIâm the sort of person who thinks critically about what I read or hear.â Since everyone presumably aspires to do just that, youâre trying to say youâre cleverer than those around you. âRadicalâ means nothing at all, in this context, except that the speaker thinks that thereâs a particular disruptive bravery to his her political persona â which is a judgment for others to make.
Excerpt from: Write to the Point: How to be Clear, Correct and Persuasive on the Page by Sam Leith