It's okay to be firm in your beliefs. But you don't have to be an asshole about it.

If you are having a discussion with someone, and they very reasonably and gently ask a probing question that you don't have an answer for, there's no need to get defensive. Don't go off on a complete tangent to try to make up for it in volume. If you don't have an opinion entirely fleshed out, that's okay. It's alright to mostly have a general idea of what you think.

Using big words doesn't make your argument carry more weight. Many of us are just as smart and can do it all in two- or three-syllable words. In this type of situation, it makes you look arrogant, not confident. If I'm not mistaken this whole discussion was about arrogance vs. confidence. Funny how that worked.

Half the time, it's not what you say, it's how you say it.

This is related to the previous post (and not the part about me feeling better).