# Ways in which you are annoyingly pedantic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676 "2024-04-01T14:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/1 "2024-04-01T14:12:18Z")
I like to be literal, but sometimes I take it too far. Like this: It’s cold, so I put on a jacket. Someone comes by and asks “Are you cold?” To which I truthfully say no. “So why’d you put on a jacket?” “I was cold before put on a jacket, but now I’m not.” I’ve got to knock that off. I sound like Sheldon Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/2 "2024-04-01T14:51:46Z")
Every time someone uses “beg the question” to mean “raise the question,” I feel the compulsion to say, “No, that’s not what that means”. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/3 "2024-04-01T14:57:44Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > It’s cold, so I put on a jacket. Someone comes by and asks “Are you cold?” To which I truthfully say no. “So why’d you put on a jacket?” “I was cold before put on a jacket, but now I’m not.” That is me. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/4 "2024-04-01T15:02:00Z")
I still get annoyed when the word “decimated” is used as if it means “destroyed”. Yes, I know that this is now accepted as proper or common usage, but it still bugs me. It’s not like there wasn’t already a way to say something was destroyed or nearly completely eliminated so we had to start using a word that means “killed every tenth person” for that purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/5 "2024-04-01T15:15:52Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > It’s cold, so I put on a jacket. Someone comes by and asks “Are you cold?” To which I truthfully say no. “So why’d you put on a jacket?” “I was cold before put on a jacket, but now I’m not.” Old Jewish joke: MOTHER: Put on a jacket, it’s cold outside! SON: If I put on a jacket, will it be warm outside? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/6 "2024-04-01T15:18:13Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > I still get annoyed when the word “decimated” is used as if it means “destroyed”. That’s mine too! My husband looked it up once (trying to get me to drop it), and was surprised to find out I was right. Doesn’t stop me from telling him again every time I hear it, though. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/7 "2024-04-01T15:34:43Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > I still get annoyed when the word “decimated” is used as if it means “destroyed”. Yes, I know that this is now accepted as proper or common usage, but it still bugs me I agree, but you can’t fight common usage. The Academie Francaise tries to, but phrases like ‘le weekend’ got into French anyway… I’ve given up on correct use of apostrophes… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/8 "2024-04-01T15:54:22Z")
I would not say it is annoyingly pedantic just because I try to be precise, it seems not fair to blame me when other people get annoyed because I am right. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/9 "2024-04-01T15:57:51Z")
I am annoying pedantic about people using comma splices while claiming they are right. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/10 "2024-04-01T16:02:35Z")
Oh, yes, that too. Like the adverb/adjective thing, just horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/11 "2024-04-01T16:08:16Z")
Well and good. Less and fewer. I’m not perfect in the language myself, but those two bother me. Oh, and not adding the -ly ending to create an adverb. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/12 "2024-04-01T16:09:47Z")
The use of “farther” and “further” is one for me. When someone is describing a physical distance, it’s supposed to be “farther” (as in more “far”), and for describing advancing an idea is supposed to be “further” (as in “furthermore…”). Most of the time people get it right but for some odd reason when they get it wrong a little light goes on in my head and I have the urge to correct them (but usually don’t). ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/13 "2024-04-01T16:22:40Z")
I always bristle at the use of “passive voice” to mean “any phrasing that obscures agency in a way I don’t like.” “We have encountered difficulties processing your request” is not passive voice. “A bomb exploded, killing five soldiers” is not passive voice. etc…. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/14 "2024-04-01T16:26:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Less and fewer I know people try to be precise about this, but I must have missed the class when it was explained. What’s wrong grammatically with saying “10 items or less?” ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/15 "2024-04-01T16:34:10Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well and good. Less and fewer. I’m not perfect in the language myself, but those two bother me. Oh, and not adding the -ly ending to create an adverb. Don’t worry, it’s all fixed in newspeak. Plus or doubleplus etc does the job. And you just need to add a ‘-ful’ to adverb any adjective. Just accept Big Brother. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/16 "2024-04-01T16:38:44Z")
Hatlos’ They’ll Do It Every Time! Points to non-stone building in disrepair: “That building is really _dilapidated_!” (The urge to kill) ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/17 "2024-04-01T16:39:17Z")
In meetings when someone suggests something like, “lets go clockwise around the table”, I always ask, “clockwise as seen from above, or clockwise as seen from below?” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/18 "2024-04-01T16:39:48Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > What’s wrong grammatically with saying “10 items or less?” There’s nothing wrong with it. An 18th century critic named Robert Baker said he preferred this usage, and some prescriptivist grammarians picked it up and decided it was a rule. > **['Fewer' and 'Less'](https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/fewer-vs-less)** > > We all want fewer problems and less trouble with 'fewer' and 'less' ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/19 "2024-04-01T16:40:45Z")
I really hate poor capitalisation, which is ironic given my username but I can’t be bothered to change it now. Things like not capitalising proper nouns, the first person pronoun, and initialisms/acronyms really annoy me; as does random Capitalisation in the Middle of a Sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676/20 "2024-04-01T16:42:32Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Points to non-stone building in disrepair: > “That building is really _dilapidated_!” Ah, that’s a new one to me. Thanks. I usually don’t correct people unless they pay me to do it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-in-which-you-are-annoyingly-pedantic/999676.md?page=2)