Quinn saying "paradigm shift" as a way to imply superiority and aloofness seems right in character to me. She's wanting to send the message that she's way ahead of Tommy in terms of thinking about potential consequences, and that she's not concerned about how things play out.
As for her intelligence or lack thereof, it's pretty firmly established that she's desperate - she fell behind on payments even before getting mugged, and her attempted bold expansion of the "restaurant" fell apart on her with both Mona and Maya slipping off the hook. She's been getting reckless, and making bad decisions, but it's because she's been living on the edge and almost fell over, not because she's actively stupid.
Of course, she's also not as smart as she likes to think she is, but that can happen to people at any level.