Jim Beam said he snipped the pedantry from a recent post of mine. Being a pedant, I decided to see if he was using the term correctly. So I looked it up. Here is a portion of the Wikipedia entry
"Being referred to as a pedant, or pedantic, is generally considered insulting. However some people take pride in being a pedant, especially with regard to the use of the English language. In an attempt to avoid censure, people who wish to make a correction often preface it with "not wishing to be pedantic, but ..." or "without being a pedant, ..."
"Pedantry can also be an indication of certain developmental disorders. In particular those with Left Sided syndrome, or high-functioning autism, often have behavior characterized by pedantic speech Those with Asperger's tend to obsess over the minutiae of subjects, and are prone to giving long detailed expositions, and the related corrections, and may gravitate to careers in academia or science where such obsessive attention to detail is often rewarded.
"Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is also in part characterized by a form of pedantry that is overly concerned with the correct following of rules, procedures and practices. Sometimes the rules that OCPD sufferers obsessively follow are of their own devising, or are corruptions or re-interpretations of the letter of actual rules."
Hmmm.... I think I need to do more research.
Elliot Richmond Itinerant astronomy teacher Freelance science writer