Lev Parikian asked people for their most tedious bit of niche pedantry, and these 24 fit the bill
One of the fastest ways to get any kind of interaction on Twitter/X is to post something with a grammatical or factual error.
Not all mistakes are as common as your/you’re mix-ups, though, and author and conductor Lev Parikian wanted to learn about some of the less obvious ones that get people’s blood boiling.
What’s your most tedious bit of niche pedantry, the one that would make people back away from you with fear in their eyes?
Mine is that ‘lesser spotted’ doesn’t mean ‘not often seen’ so much as ‘small and spotty’.
— Lev Parikian (@LevParikian) March 13, 2024
His post got an impressive reponse, and Lev posted a follow-up report.
I didn’t go through all the hundreds of replies. Just a randomish sample of 200. And the winners – the Top 10 things that people get particularly exercised about – are…
— Lev Parikian (@LevParikian) March 14, 2024
1. Less/fewer
2. Disinterested/uninterested
3. Decimate
4. The proof is in the pudding
5. I could care less
6. Begs the question
7. Railway/train station
8. Momentarily
9. Very unique
10. ‘Advanced’ for ‘advance’
— Lev Parikian (@LevParikian) March 14, 2024
Obviously, a lot of those fall under the umbrella of non-niche pedantry.
Ok I’ve got another one. It’s when people reply to a tweet asking for ‘NICHE’ pedantry with common or standard pedantry or just things they hate. https://t.co/tlPV4MgQZ5
— Lev Parikian (@LevParikian) March 14, 2024
Here are some others about which people felt very strongly. Some are extremely niche.
1.
The plural of octopus in English is not octopi. It’s from the Greek octopodes not the Latin which is polypus, but anyway you don’t pronounce the epsilon and anyway OCTOPUS IS AN ENGLISH WORD COS THAT’S how language works <breathe>
Also: dissect does not rhyme with bisect. https://t.co/88NkJR0JGp
— Dr Adam Rutherford (@AdamRutherford) March 14, 2024
2.
‘One bad apple’ doesn’t mean that a problem is confined to one person. The full saying is ‘one bad apple spoils the barrel’ so if you have ‘one bad apple’ this actually means the problem has spread to others. https://t.co/hyIspVHrTf
— Red Sky At Night (@redskyatnight) March 14, 2024
3.
Superman and Batman: one word. Iron Man and Wonder Woman: two words. Spider-Man and Ant-Man: one word, hyphenated with capitals. https://t.co/dK0CRPH1Hv
— Gary Bainbridge (@Gary_Bainbridge) March 14, 2024
4.
Quantum Leap. I know the common meaning has now changed but it’s actually the *smallest possible change* that can be measured. I hate it. It doesn’t mean a massive difference, it’s a tiny difference. Infuriates me every time. https://t.co/8EfbjrUp9K
— Professor Pingosaurus (@Pingosaurus) March 13, 2024
5.
If you are confronted with a decision between two options, you DO NOT have ‘two choices’.
You have ONE CHOICE. https://t.co/CsW7Vql0hB
— The Cat From Greece (@acatfromgreece) March 14, 2024
6.
This is “Carole”, not “Carol”. It’s such a prevalent error that I’ve seen BritBox and the DVD releases use it. https://t.co/oB8X5ZzzDR pic.twitter.com/v8Ukkf0Mcj
— The Brittas Empire Fanpage (@BrittasFan) March 14, 2024
7.
which theatres are west end, and which theatres most definitely are not x https://t.co/ub5394s3gu
— rebecca (@stageyrebecca) March 15, 2024
8.
Seasons are lower case https://t.co/aPNdgErFFi
— Lucinda Tobyjug (@msloobylou) March 14, 2024
9.
"biopic" being pronounced to rhyme with "myopic"
The rage from this one is fuelling my life and saving loads on energy bills
— BettyStovesEyes (@BettyStovesEyes) March 13, 2024
I hear you can sell that energy back to the grid.
— Lev Parikian (@LevParikian) March 13, 2024
10.
The one the cars (used to) go over is the Forth Road Bridge.
The one the trains go over is the Forth Bridge. https://t.co/k4EP4HTVTx
— David Strathdee (@David_Strathdee) March 13, 2024
11.
That Agnetha from Abba isn’t a recluse just because she lives on an island. All of Stockholm is on islands, and you can get to hers by bus https://t.co/lTQb4R3tbq
— frances quinn (@franquinn) March 13, 2024
12.
Refrigerated trucks being described as “temperature-controlled vehicles” when they’re actually “controlled-temperature vehicles”. Drives me batty. https://t.co/f05LjQPwjC pic.twitter.com/hmKtlpLKGT
— Daniel Pietersen (@pietersender) March 15, 2024
