...and not ones that tell us exactly what he's mumbling, but ones that translate what he says into boiled down, "gist," understandable English.
"I am unable to determine the miles between this present area and her locale."
Translation: "I don't know how far away she is."
I agree. The way he talked was kinda annoying. The effect came across as comedic at times, which didn't fit the show's mood.
shareI went to high school with a guy like that. Instead of saying "I need you to sign this paper" he would say "I require your autograph on this document" in some sort of terrible British accent.
He insisted on being called "Otto" even though his name was Shawn or some shit.
And he always carried ALL of his books from ALL of his classes in his arms at all times, never using his locker or a backpack. He was such a rube.
But yes, there are people really like this, because they want people to think they're smart, but they can't actually be smart. And this is one of the easiest ways to fake it.
Side note: that's where the "nerd" stereotype comes from. The idea that high intelligence academic achievers all like comic books and sci-fi and are generally socially awkward. Go to any true high end academic institution and the students are not like that. It's just the easiest thing to fake when you're pretty much a total loser. You can't fake being athletic, for example. But you sure can quote Battlestar Gallactica, even though you can't spell "differential calculus."
Eugene is so used to pretending, I'm not sure he actually knows who he is. At least before the time jump. That was part of what they were exploring with his character in the Sanctuary while he was working for Negan.
Have they ever said what he did before the ZA? I've always had the feeling he was a science teacher at a high school or community college. But I suppose he could've been an electrician (and electronic hobbyist) or something like that. He has a useful level of technical knowledge, but certainly isn't a professional scientist - although that seems to be his own ideal vision of himself. Maybe he couldn't afford grad school and always resented it. Maybe he was an underachiever and never got into grad school in the first place. Who knows?