pedantic

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 12, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>pedantic</strong> &#149; \pih-DAN-tik\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> of, relating to, or being a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedant">pedant</a></p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned</p> <p><strong>3 :</strong> <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unimaginative">unimaginative</a>, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dull">dull</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"It is always very difficult to know how to pronounce [the name <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Gogh%2C%20van">van Gogh</a>]—it's not easy for someone English or American, we just don't have that sound. Then it sounds <em>pedantic</em> if you insist on the Dutch pronunciation." — <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/van-gogh-gbr-intl-scli/index.html">Martin Bailey, quoted on CNN, 7 Feb. 2020</a></p> <p>"The trouble is that listening is a skill few diligently practice even in the best of times…. Family members, friends and colleagues may retreat into themselves, become easily distracted or maybe get too analytical, critical or <em>pedantic</em> in a subconscious attempt to control the conversation when all else is uncontrollable." — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/well/family/listening-coronavirus.html">Kate Murphy, <em>The New York Times</em>, 5 May 2020</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>In William Shakespeare's day, a pedant was a male schoolteacher. The word's meaning was close to that of the Italian <em>pedante</em>, from which the English word was adapted. Someone who was pedantic was simply a tutor or teacher. But some instructional pedants of the day must have been pompous and dull because by the early 1600s both <em>