Are pedants often just people who aren't as clever as they think they are?

[Fragmentedbrain]

Left with nowhere to go conversationally besides picking up on typos or in jokes

?

The question is whether somebody should bother.

Of course, if you prefer, what is, the abomination that, is the appalling sentance contrsuction which, you will see manifesting on emails, at least part produced with ChatGPT, and then made better by somebody putting in more commas as they know it to not be a good senteance, if you want to be able to breath, but stile have n idea of how it shld be written there is no hope that in the end you would, then, accept in the end that in every occasion we need PENDANTS!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I can handle errors made due to phonetically typing a word or phrase they've never seen written down in their local accent or dialect or have been autocorrected on a mobile that's being operated by somebody with very long nails obscuring the corrections. My objection is where it appears that nobody feels it important to check communications before they go out - especially where they could be pasted into Google Translate for non-native speakers or where it's an email dishing out a massive bollocking for making an error such as calling somebody Mrs Child's-Name instead of Ms Actual-Name (usually with at least one if not both of those names also being misspelled). And yes, if somebody is being paid over fifty grand a year for their role, I expect them to have a firm grasp of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

I once had a secret Santa gift at work that was a mug printed with ‘I am silently correcting your grammar’.

I saw this today. It both amused me and made me shudder.

I think you're talking about me OP

Im a bit pedantic about things I know

I dont know that much though

And Im lazy with it, apostrophes have run out.

No.

MY EYESSSSSSSS!!!!!!! 😱

Yes

Reminded me of the joke: “Who led the pedants’ revolt?” Answer: “Which Tyler.”

”Apologies if this has been on here before. I am new to this thread. “

Ahem.

People aren't usually one dimensional, at least not in my world.
My DH is both a pedant, correcting me on my grammar and whatever else hurts his ears, and extremely clever, able to hold intelligent, interesting and well informed discussions.

Ha ha! Brilliant 😂

Oh this is hilarious 😂

It is absolutely not the job of a copy-editor to be a pedant. Their role is to assist with clarity of communication, implement house style and flag/mitigate/resolve any technical features of the manuscript that might present problems at the typesetting (or e-publication) stage.

By definition, pedantry is an excessive concern with minor rules. Great writers (and even mediocre writers) often bend minor rules in a way that is functional, aiding communication. They don't want copy-editors needlessly fiddling with their prose.

I'm a pendant about some things but I'm not a brilliant speller though I do check things.
The apostrophe it's its,
your you're etc really bugs me and if I hear fewer and less being used incorrectly then my teeth go on edge! My husband does it all the time. 😂. Actually as the OP hinted I'm just trying to be a supervior being on the things I understand well to hide the things I don't 🤣🤣

I think of pedantry as being like joining MENSA. It's a badge for people who like to display a little learning and a little smartness.

Yes I think so, OP, or at least some insecurity and a need to show how clever they are or feel momemtarily superior to others. I recognise this in myself at times.

DD sent me a text saying at work there was a customer ‘who’s’ (sic) t shirt read ‘I am silently judging your grammar.’ Love a bit of meta irony!

As someone who fits the description in the first paragraph, I agree entirely.
I seldom comment, but mental eye rolls are frequent!
Oh, and I am quite clever, although I rarely claim to be.

I imagine pedants to be jobsworths in the workplace. The colleague everyone avoids.

It can be, I agree. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a big overlap between MENSA membership and an obsession with split infinitives.

But a care for language is rather broader. I wouldn’t call someone who rejects a CV littered with grammar and spelling errors a pedant, for example.

It’s all a matter of degree.

Haha ok.

I am still going to correct compliment to complement and add a pedantic apostrophe to Lets (just two examples from today). I’m a grammarian really.

I'd agree. My partner is like this. More of a nitpicker but also a pedant.

Sometimes I can't even open my mouth without him clarifying or correcting everything I say. It's detail that genuinely doesnt matter and he knows what I mean.

I've finally told him it's akin to bullying if I can't speak without him policing everything I say.

Im also a solicitor. I am a professional pedant and nitpicker. If he saw the level of pedantry lawyers engage in he'd realise the amateur he is.

It is just a way of trying to be superior whilst making themselves look ill mannered.

I don't get it.

Maybe I'm too thick to be in Pedants' Corner 🤣

Not that thick. All your apostrophes are in the right place, and your grammar is perfect. I don’t know whether an emoji requires a full stop or not. Two line breaks might be thought excessive, but that's down to style.

‘Which Tyler?’ is an immensely satisfying joke. The statement 'Wat Tyler led the Peasants' Revolt' (in the Middle Ages) can be misheard, with tongue in cheek, as the question ‘What Tyler …’, as if asking ‘Which (person called) Tyler …'. ‘What’, as a homophone for ‘Wat’, is then corrected to ‘Which’. It gets even more hilarious when ‘Pedants’’ is substituted for ‘Peasants’’, and the statement is put as a question: ‘Who led …?’. There is residual comic irony when the answer ‘Which Tyler’ emerges as a statement, having become separated from the supposed question. I am unsure whether I should have said ‘homophone of’ or ‘for’.

Some are. Some aren't.