Only true if you are not a sheepdog.
In the most recent episode of Young Sheldon, when Sheldon has to use a port-a-potty he tries to imagine that it’s a TARDIS and that he is “Doctor Who”. That’s how he put it in the show. Yet every annoyingly pedantic Doctor Who fan knows the character is called The Doctor, not Doctor Who, which is merely the name of the show. And to make it doubly annoying, that’s exactly the sort of thing Sheldon would be annoyingly pedantic about, and not the sort of thing he would get wrong.
That may be true these days. But back in the 80s, when Young Sheldon is set, it was pretty common for everyone, even fans, to refer to the character as “Doctor Who” in casual conversation. Trust me, I was there. The whole “You must call him ‘The Doctor’” thing as a shibboleth for Real True Fandom didn’t develop until later.
Peter Capaldi, who was himself a fan back then, often refers to “being Doctor Who,” in a way that confuses a lot of modern fans. Tom Baker occasionally has, as well.
Maybe I’m annoyingly pedantic about the history of annoying pedantry?
Fair enough, but in the spirit of annoying pedantry I’ll point out that it was the narrator, aka present day Sheldon, who made the statement about pretending to be Doctor Who. So it seems like he still would have said “The Doctor”, even if he was talking about something from 30 some years ago.
And more annoying pedantry: The early seasons of Young Sheldon were set in the late 80s, but I am pretty sure the timeline has progressed to the early 90s now.
Ah, if it was present-day Sheldon, then you’re right. He would be just the type to insist on that distinction.
Almost forgot…
I am unreasonably irked (but that would be another current thread) when people say, “The person that came here in the red car.” I have to bite my tongue to keep from responding, “You mean the person WHO came here in the red car.”
One might think this would no longer bother me.
I am too. Even though I have been assured by grammarians smarter than I am that “that” is perfectly cromulent in that context. Coulda fooled me.
Volutes: those curly twins at the top of classic columns. They should be flush with the face of the building but the one on the outside of the corner column should be at a 45-degree angle.
Also, Doric columns with based
There should be an emoji for “Forgive me for this nitpicking, BUT….”
After posting in this thread, I realized I’m annoyingly pedantic about the difference between “grilling” and “barbecuing”.
Oh, yeah, I’m pedantic about the difference between dill pickles and kosher pickles. I often see koshers referred to as “kosher dills”, when there is nothing remotely dilly about them. A real kosher pickle at a good deli is pickled with salt and garlic and maybe some peppercorns and a bay leaf.
“W, X, Y, and Zed
Now my ABC’s are said.”
That might also work to find out if they’re American and say ‘huh that’s a word?’ or British and tell you.
Where I grew up (northeast Ohio), the wording of choice was “Watch For Ice On Bridge”.
Our signs say “Bridge freezes before road”.
One thing that often annoys me in media reports about science:
Scientist are at odds in this matter: Some scientists say that very probably X is the case, but on the other hands some say that there is not yet definite proof that X is the case, and more research is needed.
FFS where is the difference of opinion/the controversy here? The two bolded statements could have been made by the same person.
“Some say…” Used far too often to generate an artificial sense of controversy, the better for promoting clicks, eyes, and advertising opportunities.
I’m really only pedantic with my husband. I figure he can handle it. I correct his vocabulary and pronunciation sometimes.
“Less” when you mean “Fewer” bugs the shit out of me. I see it misused both casually and professionally and online and offline.
So does “begs the question.” I first learned about that in philosophy so now I’m stuck on that definition.
I’m write thier with ya.
Never mind.