A friend of mine in Washington D.C. had a great way of dispatching notorious braggarts.
She would smile and say, (and the emphasis is important here) "How nice FOR you." Her inflection was so subtle and her smile so sweet, sometimes they did not realize they were being neutralized and brought down to size.
This is different from saying, "How nice for YOU," which implies a tinge of jealously on your part. That is what the braggart wants, right? No need to be jealous of people boasting of material wealth, because most of them are living beyond their means. It's what Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, authors of the best-seller, The Millionaire Next Door, called the "Big Hat, No Cattle" theory.
Thank you to the Culture and Manners Institute.for this week's tip.
