New Vocabulary

[jotasbrane]

I'm coining the phrase "cargo cult pedantry". (Write that in your dictionaries now.) A cargo cult pedant is someone who has seen or heard other people being pedantic about something and decides to join in (so that they too can experience that sweet, succulent feeling of superiority that we pedants enjoy all the time), without actually understanding

Comments

[merovingian]

I have a friend, who is generally quite brilliant and charming, but who will correct people to say "...and I" instead of "...and me" regardless of grammatical accuracy.

Me: "I wish you would stop correcting John and me on our use of language."
Her: "I think you mean 'John and I'."
Me: (becomes apoplectic)

[paulobrian]

I think you mean, "I: (becomes apoplectic)"

[merovingian]

I: (becomes comfortably numbs)

[jotasbrane]

This is similar to folks who use the word "whom" in places where they should use "who", because they know that educated people use "whom" (but don't know when or why).

[houseboatonstyx]

Would it be pedantic to say that I don't think 'cargo cult' is quite the right term for this? Some play off 'nouveau riche' or the Veneerings, maybe?

[jotasbrane]

You won't catch me that easily!

[taskboy3000]

Cargo Cult is dead on. The idea is that some one has received "wisdom" without understanding it. They then proceed to bludgeon anyone they can with their new "knowledge."

It is as irritating as it is common in the tech world. I believe you'll also find this behavior in the realms of politics too.

A more awkward word for this might be "pseudocertaintists."