Julie: not to be offensive, but you’re kind of sounding like a ‘know-it-all’. A mistake that I make myself also is opening my mouth at all after hearing someone’s spiel…Sometimes you’re just better off not saying anything (kinda like right now for me too….ooops) Regardless if the person speaking is right or wrong, unless they’re asking for an answer or want to be corrected (if wrong) just let them spew their hot air. IMO, Just my 2 cents. Again, not bashing you.

My friend didn’t get annoyed. Instead, he mocked him.
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I’m unclear on the concept here, because responding that way really is by definition an indication of annoyance. If you’re not annoyed at something someone says, you don’t respond with mocking and sarcasm. But regardless, why do it? There are really two types of know-it-alls: Those who know they’re being obnoxious and don’t care, and those who don’t realize they’re being obnoxious, because they lack social skills. If you respond sarcastically to the first type, at best you’ve caused ill will — and it’s never good to cause ill will since you never know when you’ll need someone’s help in the future — and at worst, created an enemy. If you respond sarcastically to the second type, they won’t even hear the sarcasm, and not only that, they won’t have learned that they did something annoying.

Plus keep in mind that there are also people who aren’t know-it-alls, but made the mistake of commenting on something you know a hell of a lot more about than they do. For example, they might give you advice about a medical condition without realizing that you’re a doctor. Why mock them?

A simple, “Thank you for your feedback,” or even just ignoring the comment altogether and moving along with the conversation — and then, finding an excuse to take your leave and doing so, since I agree that the best advice is to simply stay away from people who annoy you when possible — takes care of the problem.

Thanks for reading Clément!