Beware Pedant Alert!
August 25, 2016 in Best of Both, humor, motherhood by MyBestofBothWorlds
Beware Pedant Alert!
Oh my we are on the high alert in my house- pedant alert that is. According to Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary the simple definition of Pedant is: a person who annoys other people by correcting small errors and giving too much attention to minor details.
There is seriously not a family dinner where we don’t use this word, as my family is obsessed with being pedantic. It’s driving me crazy. We are a sarcastic bunch by nature. And if you can dish it you better be able to take it around our dinner table.
Yep these above are the MAJOR PEDANTS that are at my dining room table every night. From Left to Right: Kristen who discovered the word pedant while preparing for the SATS, my Mom Gerri aka AOB (that nick name is for another blog at a future date) and husband Shawn who I have fondly nick-named Scrabble for his use of fifty cent words when a nickle word will do from our dating days.
I actually challenged them to see if they could control the behavior by getting through one whole meal without correction. No dice! Didn’t happen. It was similar to playing the quiet game in the car, they were practically bursting. What a fantasy! It’s as if they can’t help themselves. I think it’s absolutely amazing that I make it through a day working in a dynamic healthcare environment, interacting with providers, nurses, administrators, vendors, contractors and am able to actually get my point across without being interrupted to be corrected.
I know I’m not alone. Recently, I had attended a wake and met a few other women who were Moms. During the course of our conversation, one began to describe a humorous cartoon post she posted on social media. I said oh yeah, I saw that meme too and laughed. She replied what did you call it? I said a meme. She said spell it. So I did M-E-M-E. She said she never heard of it before and I said you learn something new every day, but at least you won’t get made fun of now by your children because you know how to pronounce it. Of course my children corrected my pronunciation of the word. I read M-E-M-E and said “Me-Me” instead “meem”. I haven’t lived that one down, and my kids like to repeat that story. Hardee Har Har!
My comeback to them, is that I taught you how to eat with a spoon, tie your shoes and ride a bike. Top that! I dare you!
By the way, the pedant behavior isn’t just rampant among the children, my husband and mother need to be re-conditioned as well. There is no escaping. Even if they know what you meant to say the correction is ever forth coming. It does make for some funny conversations. Good thing I love them all so much! So be forewarned and Beware Pendant Alert is always going on at my house. That’s part of my Mom Life and what makes My Best of Both Worlds the best for me.
Hey, I resemble that remark…..
I never considered myself a pedant, how can that be..where did this label come from…surely not me…not that I want to correct you, but you are soooooo wrong about that…your husband & your children are definetly pendants, but not me…I don’t know where you get your information, we will have to discuss this at the dinner table…
There’s no argument about we truly love each other….
My kids are like that and so is my sister. My husband uses big fancy words all the time and it drives me nuts. I find people that use “big words” to make people feel inferior complete jerks, I know many. I know several “big words” but since I spent almost two decades teaching 1st grade ESL, I had no use for them what so ever. Out of habit I use simple concise language. Just because I don’t use those words. doesn’t mean I don’t know what your saying.
This is hysterical! And a great way to get the family involved in learning new words!
Pedants absolutely drive me nuts, even though I never actually knew the term for them. I’ve seen this so many times, which is why I try to never correct anything unless it’s something that can actually help.
I made the meme vs “me-me” mistake years ago. My kids made fun of me for it, but I’m sure they’ve misspoke plenty too.
I think we can all be quite pedantic but it’s not the intention of the pedant to be irritating, but instead to be right!
Dinner with you guys sounds like a blast!
OMG. I AM THAT PERSON! LOL. I will correct you in a minute. Annoys the heck out of my daughter. I’m going to tell her tonight. I am a Pedant! She’ll look at me like I’m nuts and then go to her room to ignore me for the rest of the night lol.
So all this would just get on my nerves. Correcting little pieces picking others apart, it sounds like the Everybody Loves Raymond. I think it is like an anxiety situation on steroids..
Just thinking about it would make me not wanna eat dinner if my family was to do that. It would drive me nuts. If they were, I would tell them to shut up and eat. hahahaha
My kids are very pedantic too!! It drives me crazy sometimes! The correcting me infront of others crosses a line though so
We’ve had to have talks about when & where it’s appropriate to step in an correct or show sarcasm!
Not sure how I would handle this. It may come down to what kind of day I was having. But I truly understand how it could literally just drive someone insane if it continued to happen all the time.
Ahhhhhhh this can defiantly be annoying!!! im all about spreading love and peace so when I bump
Into people like this it definetly gets on my nerves
I am so glad that I am not the only one that pronounced Meme wrong. My sister still teases me and my daughter never corrected me just thought I was doing it on purpose. I am bad about correcting people for little things and it drives my family crazy.
I didn’t even know what pedant meant til I read this post. This is certainly something that could get annoying after a while. I do know some people that correct others like this too.
my family is similar, esp my younger brother… it’s all out of fun though! sometimes I say things wrong just to bug him, it’s pretty fun when other members chime in : ) I’ll have to share this post with the family : )
I know a few people who are like this! It can be difficult, but I think seeing things from everyone’s perspective is super important. This is a great post! 🙂
My kids does this to me every time. It’s kind of annoying sometimes but a lot of times funny!
I’ve never heard this term before but now it’s stuck in my head. I know some people who could learn from this post.