Pretentious? Moi?

A comic denial that is itself a performance of the trait being denied. By answering “Pretentious?” with the French “Moi?” (“Me?”), the speaker affects cosmopolitan sophistication while feigning innocence—an ironic self-contradiction that heightens the joke. The line works as a compact piece of character comedy: it suggests someone accused of pretension who cannot resist signaling refinement even in rebuttal. In Cleese’s comedic persona, it also fits a recurring satirical target—social climbing, self-importance, and the brittle manners of the “educated” classes—where the punchline comes from exposing how quickly a façade reasserts itself.