podcast where your two favorite pedants talk about philosophy and everyday life.
I'm Dr. Ellie Anderson.
And I'm Dr. David Peña Guzman.
All right.
So nobody likes to be called pedantic.
The figure of the pedant has an unquestionably negative connotation.
The author of the book we 're going to be talking about today,
which is aptly called On Pedantry, defines the pedant as somebody who exhibits an excessive display or use of learning.
And so the idea here is that the pedant is a very learned individual, but they misuse their learning.
They often lord it over other people.
They use it in an annoying fashion.
The pedant is not somebody you want to be stuck at a party with.
They're the know-it-all of the group.
They 're the grammar Nazi, the person who 's always nitpicking at everything everybody says and behind their back,
everybody wishes that they were n't invited to the party in the first place.
And social groups tend to have a pedantic character.
And so if you don't know who the pedant in your social group is, who knows?
Maybe you are the pedant in your social group and you just don't know it.
Okay, I will say, David, maybe this is pedantic of me, but I don't think that's true.
That is pedantic.