Pedants Of The World, Revolt!

krizon

krizon

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A programme seemingly designed for the four or five of us on here who just can't help nitpicking at spelling, grammar, and punkchewayshun.

'The Pedants' Revolt' (snigger, snigger) will be on BBC2 tomorrow night, when Victoria Coren (Brian, I'm sure you'll stay awake for that reason alone), John Humphrys, and representatives from the Queen's English Society and the Apostrophe Protection Society look at those taking a zero tolerance approach to grammar.
 
I get accused of pedantry often, especially at work, so will be watching this programme with interest!!!
 
Dictionary.com says...

[French pédant, or Italian pedante(French, from Italian) possibly from Vulgar Latin *paedns, *paedent- present participle of *paedere, to instruct, probably from Greek paideuein, from pais, paid-, child. See pedo-2.]
 
I have no idea why this thread has brought this to my mind but yesterday afternoon, on the hottest day of the year, because I am mad, I was playing in a monthly poker tournament - I hasten to add a real life one and all the doors and windows were open.

One of the guys on my table said "Jeez, I'm sweating like a boy scout in Neverland!"
 
:lol: :lol:

Simmo: you'd better watch, too. There's apostrophe-abuse in your sentence, which is probably going to cost you detention after work, and 200 lines.

Paedo- (or pedo-), or before a vowel, paed- or ped-, indicates a child or children, hence paed or pediatrician, a medical practitioner specializing in children. The origin of the prefix is the Greek 'pais' for boy, or 'paid-' (adding on a further suffix)= child.

The word paederast or pederast (American usage favours dropping the first 'a') meaning a homosexual relationship between men and boys, comes again from the Greek 'pais' for 'boy', plus 'erastes' for 'lover', from the verb (eran) 'to love'.

Pedantic, on t'other hand, originates from 16th Century Italian, via Old French, with 'pedante', meaning 'teacher'.

I thank you! :D
 
Ah, good, a difference of opinion, nay, two! Patricians are people of noble birth and are both male and female.

The derivation of the word patronise, via patron, is from the Latin pater meaning "father" - who, I agree, would be a male.
 
As is, also, 'patrician' (Baccalaureate Pedantry) - but I must concede that patrician applied as you have described is correct. Fortuitously, 'patronize' inevitably comes from 'patron' and 'patronage' and therefore from 'pater' - and as you have correctly surmised, would fairly obviously be a father, i.e., a male.

I'm not sure if I can take you, Hartigan, in the Outstanding Pedant of the Year contest, but, as you can see, I'm going to give it a darn (euph. 'damn') good try!

Au contraire, cher Colin, one plies purely as a part-time pedagogue, promoting potentially perfect prose, expecting no panegyric, perhaps, but possible partisan plaudits.
 
So, Anti Kri, you have linked 'Paed' - love of young boys an 'Ped' - teacher, to illustrate the difference in root.

Now for a guy who was brought up in the Irish education system, can you have another go?
 
I am also sometimes accused of being a pedant. As far as I'm concerned I am just srrounded by a bunch of sloppy f*ckers.
 
I ain't done nuffink, Anny, I just wroten down wot the dickshunry saed.

Have you heard of the old priest who teaches
Young boys who are still in knee-breeches?
When he says 'Take them down'
With a forbidding frown,
He doesn't mean notes about Nietzche.

(I had trouble finding an 'eeches' rhyme there, so improve away, dear heart, improve away.)
 
Well, that was a rather tame and slightly bitty programme, I thought. More a plug for 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' than much else. I like the sound of the Apostrophe Protection Society, though, and shall look at their website to see whether I'm suitable membership material. I expect there's a rigorous entrance exam.
 
My Latin teacher once challenged us to write a sentence using the word 'had' nine times in succession.

When he told us the answer, we reckoned it could have been ten.

Have a go (if you don't already know it) and I'll put the answer up later this year.
 
Originally posted by Maurice@Jun 21 2005, 08:38 AM
My Latin teacher once challenged us to write a sentence using the word 'had' nine times in succession.

When he told us the answer, we reckoned it could have been ten.

Have a go (if you don't already know it) and I'll put the answer up later this year.
Click to expand...
Just had a recount and my sentence has eleven consecutive "hads"
 
He's SO damn competitive, isn't he? :lol:

Can't remember the 'hads', as it was long, long ago when I first, and last, heard it.

He's a corker from my dear old Dad: which six-letter word contains the letter 'y' three times?
 
The teacher had been marking an English exam and was comparing the papers of Mo and Jon. Jon, where Mo had had "had" had had "had had". "Had had" had had the teacher's approval.
 
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