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artificial
When referring to things made by humans, "artificial" is usually neutral. For example, "artificial intelligence" or "artificial sweeteners" are standard technical terms. However, when describing a person's behavior or emotions, "artificial" is almost always negative. It suggests that someone is being fake or dishonest about their true feelings.
💬Casual Conversation
🎬Tuesday afternoon, Victoria is reviewing a presentation David sent over.
Victoria
Cut the artificial fluff from slide 4. Just give me the raw numbers.
David
My bad. I'll strip it back and send a new version ASAP.
💡
Victoria uses 'artificial' to describe David's insincere, corporate-speak language (fluff). David responds with the phrasal verb 'strip it back', meaning to remove unnecessary elements to reveal the core truth.