[MD] Precious ?

[david buchanan]

Horse said:

Perhaps a good example of the quote: “Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language.”

Because...  Ian Glendinning wrote:
..I was talking about the sense of someone "being precious ... about something".  [Ian's original question]  = does the English use of the word "precious" translate into US / abroad? As in one person describing another as being "precious" or "precious about X"? "Precious about X-thing" I don't recall reading or hearing here. The phrase "He/she is so precious" is occasionally used, usually by doting mothers or grandmothers to refer their young children meaning something like "precociously endearing"

dmb says:
What you've probably encountered is a sarcastic kind of slang. It means the person is being too picky, too fussy or taking themselves too seriously. I once heard someone insult Boulder, Colorado by saying, "it's a little too precious." It can also be used in a condescending way, wherein you say "isn't that precious?" in the same way you'd say it to a three year-old child. It's a sarcastic way of mocking self-importance or some other misplacement of values.