HAVE YOU NOTICED…

…that when someone misuses the word “pedantic,” there’s no way to mention it without sounding…you know…?

. 5 comments.

Comments

  1. Belfry Bat says:
    January 10, 2023 at 10:14 am

    Pedagogical? Excessively erudite? Nitpickly? Hypersensitive?? Miswoke??? Mean????

    Reply
  2. Belfry Bat says:
    January 10, 2023 at 10:20 am

    Happily, it is potentially consistent with misuse of the word “pedantic” that pedantry may be well received.

    Reply
  3. Richard A says:
    January 10, 2023 at 10:31 am

    Have you ever noticed that to say of something that it’s “remarkable” is to say that it is what you just said about it?

    Reply
    • Occasional Correspondent says:
      January 10, 2023 at 4:36 pm

      Contrarily, when might one use the word “unremarkable”?  Something of a self-denying usage . . . except maybe as “x is not unremarkable” (litotes, eh?); suppose that “x is otherwise unremarkable but [etc]” might pass muster.

      But I say plow ahead, say things like “It is remarkable that x is wholly unremarkable” — a good infinite regress is a good workout for the gray matter and the white matter.

      Reply
    • RepubAnon says:
      January 11, 2023 at 9:47 pm

      Remarkable is how someone described the wall decorated by the first graffiti artist whose artwork on a surface deemed “markable” was painted over up subsequent artists

      Reply

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