1. a pretentious way to call something pretentious (if you're an idot/hack/wanker), typically accompanied by a sarcastic smirk of perceived superiority and the speech pattern often associated with witty remarks, but missing the intelligent aspect of such;
2. a
segue into snark, when bumbling blowhards overuse the word to describe things that aren't even remotely avant garde;
3. a way to acknowledge the originality (and often, the
unconventionality) of a work, typically with the implication that it is advancing its medium rather that simply being ludicrous, whilst eschewing the
ethnocentric desire to make such a comment in one's native tongue (assuming you're not French).
Example:
1. *Looking at
abstract art and rolling eyes* "This is so avant garde." *smirks, sighs, and walks away to repeat this pattern with all other paintings in MOMA, tiring his/her over-smirked face in the process*.
2. "Have you guys seen Transformers 5 yet?"
"No"
"It's pretty avant garde guys you should all check it out!"
"What do you mean by 'avant garde'?"
"I mean uh, that it was pretty damn cool."
"
Shut the fuck up and die."
"Heh..."
"No really," *pulls out knife due to anti-gun laws*
"...I've had it with people like you who hear some word on
O'Reilly's word of the day and shit it out as if you actually understand what it means and what context it should be used in."
*stabs person to death in the skull in a triangular fashion, then pulls out said persons eyes and places them inside the triangular hole, vomits in it, and remarks*
"Now that is avant garde."
3. Such and such work: "___insert work here___", "is Avant-garde".