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Dec. 9th, 2005
As most of you know, I am an incorrigible pedant. Having put my foot in it with someone by being pedantic at what she felt was the wrong time, I've been thinking about why.
I've said for a while, `he who lives by the sword dies by the sword', i.e. if one is pedantic one has to expect one's own mistakes to be pedanted. But it goes further than that. I actually want people to be pedantic back at me because my pedantry springs from caring about language and wanted it to be used well. There are interesting nuances to be achieved by correct use of infer and imply; there is an important difference between less intelligent people going to university (which may or may not be a good thing) and fewer intelligent people going to university (which is probably a bad thing in most cases (especially if combined with the first!). I try to censor my own words and typings to avoid stupid errors but I do sometimes make silly errors* and if I've done so, I'd much rather someone pulled me up for it, so I can say Doh! and change it than left it and so possibly leave other people with the impression I'm someone who doesn't know the difference between floor and flaw or when to say So-and-so and I and when to say so-and-so and me or whatever the mistake is.
*Despite the fact I know the differences between there, their and they're perfectly well sometimes my fingers run away from my brain and type the wrong one!
I've said for a while, `he who lives by the sword dies by the sword', i.e. if one is pedantic one has to expect one's own mistakes to be pedanted. But it goes further than that. I actually want people to be pedantic back at me because my pedantry springs from caring about language and wanted it to be used well. There are interesting nuances to be achieved by correct use of infer and imply; there is an important difference between less intelligent people going to university (which may or may not be a good thing) and fewer intelligent people going to university (which is probably a bad thing in most cases (especially if combined with the first!). I try to censor my own words and typings to avoid stupid errors but I do sometimes make silly errors* and if I've done so, I'd much rather someone pulled me up for it, so I can say Doh! and change it than left it and so possibly leave other people with the impression I'm someone who doesn't know the difference between floor and flaw or when to say So-and-so and I and when to say so-and-so and me or whatever the mistake is.
*Despite the fact I know the differences between there, their and they're perfectly well sometimes my fingers run away from my brain and type the wrong one!