Something that came up a while ago, actually, is the difference between gloating and bragging. I had to explain it to someone once and I think I got the definitions right.

Bragging is where someone emphasises and draws attention to how good they are at something, how great their life is, or how good they have things. It’s basically the same as being over-confident (or wanting everybody to believe that they’re better than other people).

Examples of bragging would be, “I ran my first business when I was 13!” or “I’ve scored 369 points this season – more than anyone else, ever!” Or perhaps more subtly, “yeah I know” in response to a genuine compliment.

Gloating is very similar to bragging, except it has malicious intent: it’s either done to encourage someone to feel bad about themselves, or in taking satisfaction at someone else’s misery. It’s a staple of a truly negative person.

Examples of gloating include: bragging about a healthy sex life in front of someone whom they’ve rejected, dumped or conveniently ignored; bragging about having a holiday to someone who has no time or money to have one; blowing a small event out of proportion to put someone down or aggrandise themselves.

Which do you do more often?