11 Phrases People With Zero Street Smarts Say Often
When you're not particularly savvy, you say some odd things.
TetianaKtv / Shutterstock Intelligence comes in many different forms. People who understand complex theories and analyze them on a deeper level are undeniably intelligent, but there’s more to intelligence than interpreting information from a book and repeating the information out loud. People who are book smart often lack street smarts. While they might find success at school or in the workplace, they have a naive approach to other areas of life.
The phrases people with zero street smarts say often reveal that they see the world through rose-colored glasses. Having a positive outlook on life isn’t a bad thing, but people with zero street smarts can be so overly optimistic that they end up putting themselves in harm's way.
Here are 11 phrases people with zero street smarts say often
1. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’
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A phrase people with zero street smarts say often is, “What’s the worst that could happen?” They believe that the world is inherently fair and that other people are guided through the world by a strong moral compass. People with zero street smarts underestimate how often things can go wrong. Their inability to consider worst case scenarios means they don’t put any contingency plans in place.
According to the Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence, having street smarts means people have common sense. Street smarts are the opposite of book smarts, or overall academic intelligence. The differentiation between street smarts and book smarts is based on the idea that just because people can solve abstract intellectual problems, doesn't automatically mean they can solve real-world problems.
Understanding tacit knowledge is a valuable component of having street smarts. Tacit knowledge can be defined as the “unspoken, practical know-how that often differentiates expert from novice performance.”
Someone with an incredibly high IQ might get stranded on the side of the highway because they don’t know how to change a flat tire, highlighting how important street smarts are to succeed outside a classroom.
2. ‘I don’t need directions. I can get there on my own’
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People with zero street smarts often say the phrase, “I don’t need directions, I can get there on my own.” People who don’t have street smarts have a hard time understanding (or admitting) that they don’t actually know everything there is to know.
Their lack of intellectual humility combines with extreme over-confidence in their own knowledge, which often leads them into challenging situations without a clear exit plan.
Someone who does have street smarts knows that anything can happen, especially if they’re traveling to an unfamiliar place. They understand that there will always be unexpected twists and turns on every journey, both literally and figuratively.
People with street smarts don’t rest on the laurels of what they know, rather, they enter the unknown as prepared as they can possibly be.
3. ‘I’m sure it everything will work out fine’
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“I’m sure everything will work out fine” is a phrase people with zero street smarts say often. They see the world as a safe place, where fairness always prevails, which means they believe that whatever they encounter in life will go exactly as they want it to.
Street smarts can also be seen through the lens of practical intelligence, which is a person’s ability to handle tasks in real-world situations. Someone with street smarts has the necessary skills to successfully relate to whatever environment they find themselves in.
According to psychologist Robert Sternberg, practical intelligence is an important feature of his “Triarchic theory of intelligence.” He believed that intelligence is an ongoing conversation between the practical, creative, and analytical aspects of a person’s mind. By engaging their practical intelligence, people are able to adapt their behavior to every situation they encounter.
“Intelligent behavior involves adapting to your environment, changing your environment, or selecting a better environment,” Sternberg explained.
4. ‘I trust everyone I meet’
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A phrase people with zero street smarts say often is, “I trust everyone I meet.” A major part of fostering true human connection means we have to let our guard down and invite other people into our lives. Yet people without street smarts trust first and ask questions later.
They invite people in without vetting them properly. They ignore the messages that their intuition sends them — the ones whispering that a certain person might not have their best interests at heart.
Oftentimes, people with zero street smarts are blinded by trust. They think that everyone is as trustworthy as they are, so they don’t interrogate what another person’s motives might be. They fall into the trap of being overly trusting, which often means they get taken advantage of.
While building walls around our heart keeps others out, people with zero street smarts could benefit from being a little less trusting.
5. ‘People always mean what they say’
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People with zero street smarts often say the phrase, “People always mean what they say.” They struggle with the concept of nuance, meaning that they take what other people say at face value. They don’t read into their tone or consider the context of what they’re saying. People with zero street smarts accept other people exactly at their word, without wondering if anything deeper lies beneath.
According to Ronald E. Riggio Ph.D., common sense, tact, and street smarts are all components of social intelligence. People develop social intelligence through their experiences with others, learning what makes them successful in social settings and what doesn’t.
Someone with strong social intelligence understands what makes others tick. They tune into other people, listening to their words and watching their actions, to decipher what they’re actually thinking or feeling. Social intelligence is related to emotional intelligence, as understanding emotional reaction lies at the core of each one.
6. ‘I’ll just park here for a minute while I run inside’
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A phrase people with zero street smarts say often is, “I’ll just park here for a minute will I run inside.” While they clearly see the “No Parking” sign in front of them, they don’t have the practical intelligence to weigh the possible outcome against what they hope will happen. In the dream world they often inhabit, people with zero street smarts can’t imagine that they’ll suffer the consequences of their actions.
When they inevitably find a ticket on their windshield, people with no street smarts will be genuinely confused as to why it’s there. “I was just gone for a few seconds,” they’ll declare, overlooking that they were gone for fifteen minutes because they underestimated how long running an errand would actually take.
Their lack of street smarts often means they don’t change the behavior that got them into trouble in the first place, which means they’re the proud owners of a massive collection of parking tickets, without really understanding why.
7. ‘A verbal agreement is the same as a contract’
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Another phrase people with zero street smarts say often is, “A verbal agreement is the same as a contract.” This phrase is rooted in their tendency to be too trusting. They mistakenly think that other people are as trustworthy as they are.
People with no street smarts plan to hold up their end of any agreement, so it goes without saying that the person on the other side of the handshake would follow through, too.
This misguided belief will land them in hot water more times than they can count. Because they don’t have street smarts, they fail to learn from this particular mistake. They continue to think that they can trust people’s words, without analyzing their actions on a deeper level.
8. ‘Nothing bad has ever happened to me before’
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A phrase people with zero street smarts say often is, “Nothing bad has ever happened to me before.” They use this phrase to justify their naive outlook on the world. They genuinely believe that nothing bad will happen to them in the future, because nothing bad has happened to them so far in their life.
This mindset operates on the assumption that one sunny day means every other day will be just as sunny, without even considering the possibility of rain.
It’s an unfortunately hard truth that bad things — just like good things — are bound to happen, even if they haven’t happened yet. Some people are luckier than others. Some people are more cautious than others. Yet bad things still happen to them, and they integrate what they learned from those negative experiences into their approach for the future.
9. ‘I never lock my doors’
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“I never lock my doors” is a phrase people with zero street smarts say often. They tend to say this phrase a lot, in crowded public places, at a loud volume. They genuinely don’t understand why letting that information slip could put them in danger, just as they don’t see any need to lock their doors.
People with zero street smarts can’t imagine a world where one person knowingly takes advantage of another.
They have no problem leaving their house unlocked, because they just don’t believe that anyone would do something so awful as to violate their sense of security.
10. ‘This deal I found online seems legit’
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A phrase people with zero street smarts say often is, “This deal I found online seems legit.” They don’t question the origins of the deal. They don’t double-check the veracity of the website, and they definitely don’t read the fine print.
People without street smarts see a flashing icon declaring “Free” and they accept it exactly as is. They never wonder what the catch is, which is how they wind up getting scammed, draining their bank account to belong to the elite Kitchen Utensil of the Month Club, which they didn’t realize was a life-long commitment.
11. ‘I’m not too concerned with what could go wrong’
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“I’m not too concerned with what could go wrong,” is a phrase people with zero street smarts say often. This is their battle cry, the definitive statement that sums up everything they believe. If they went to a high school reunion, this is what they’d write on their name tag, instead of their own name.
People with zero street smarts operate from a place of never truly being bothered. They have a laissez-faire attitude toward the future. They don’t plan for life’s unexpected outcomes because they understand that so much of life is out of their control.
According to the way that people with zero street smarts see the world, there’s no use in getting stuck on what could go wrong, because that’s not in their powers of prediction.
Alexandra Blogier, MFA, is a staff writer who covers psychology, social issues, relationships, self-help topics, and human interest stories.