Pedanticness
I am an admitted geek. Especially when it comes to words. Sometimes when I speak, I visualize the words in written form. (Not intentionally - it just happens sometimes. When it does, it can be a bit distracting, but for the most part, it's just something that I have accepted as part of who I am.) Sometimes I get words stuck in my head. Generally they are big words, often words that I either don't know the definition of or wouldn't be able to define if someone asked me to.
Today the word was "pedantic." Unsure of the definition, I went and asked my mom, who didn't know the definition either. I've been reading "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien," and it sounded like a word he would use, so I went back to that book to check the letters I had read on my morning break. It wasn't in any of those. Finally my mother came to me with the definition (she had found time to look it up online).
Pedantic:
1.ostentatious in one's learning.
2.overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, esp. in teaching.
Satisfied, I went on my merry way through work. At lunch, I picked up my book again. In the very first letter I read was the word "pedantic." Two letters after that, Tolkien used the word "pedantically." Apparently, my weird obsession with words includes being psychic.
Today the word was "pedantic." Unsure of the definition, I went and asked my mom, who didn't know the definition either. I've been reading "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien," and it sounded like a word he would use, so I went back to that book to check the letters I had read on my morning break. It wasn't in any of those. Finally my mother came to me with the definition (she had found time to look it up online).
Pedantic:
1.ostentatious in one's learning.
2.overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, esp. in teaching.
Satisfied, I went on my merry way through work. At lunch, I picked up my book again. In the very first letter I read was the word "pedantic." Two letters after that, Tolkien used the word "pedantically." Apparently, my weird obsession with words includes being psychic.
posted by melilotnfosco | 4:11 PM
11 Comments:
i had a word in my head yesterday, but of course now i can't remember it.
that sounds funny. what i meant was that i, too, sometimes get a word of which i don't know the meaning stuck in my head, and i can't get it out until i figure out what it means.
and no, i didn't figure out what the word meant
That kind of reminds me of 'haberdashery' (how I kept seeing/hearing it everywhere, I mean:). As for 'pedantic,' you should've come to me; Pinkpiglet and I have an inside joke about it! I couldn't clearly tell you how it came about though; just that it has to do with a boy in college. ;) Oh, and I probably would've told you something similar to the first definition, not the second, so maybe it's good you didn't ask me. ;) After reading that second definition, it makes me wonder if we might be pedantic. ;)
I get big words stuck in my head sometimes, too. :)
i think i'm horribly pedantic.
who just has an inside joke about a boy and the word pedantic?
:D Me and Piglet, I guess. He was just that kind of boy! And I like the new title. :) But I don't get it -- I like you, and I didn't like the boy. Hmm... maybe I just needed to get to know him better. But he seemed NOTHING like you! Except for maybe the same color of hair. ;)
hej Mel,
I had a thought yesterday (crazy I know!) along the whole job search line. My neighbour (who just had the baby) is a legal assistant and she and I had been talking about her job and how she thought it would be a perfect job for me since I do well with writing and communication. (Yes, I know, my grammar stinks in the blog world, but I can pull it together if I want to!) Anyways, this post made me realize that perhaps something along those lines might be a good fit for you as well. Yes it would be working with lawyers but there are many different fields of law and so I'm sure you could find a nice lawyer. And your OCD dendencies would be perfect when it comes to making sure that all the paperwork is done properly. The schooling required is quick and you can make good money and work regular hours really anywhere you want. Apparently there is a HUGE demand around here for legal assistants so likely there will be around you as well.
Anyways, just a thought!
Also, I love how the more you think of a specific word, the funnier it sounds!
actually, i've wondered about legal secretary before. i really don't know anything about the job, i just know that there seem to be lots of ads out there for them. (that, and engineer, and IT person, and nurse - none of which i would do.)
I always noticed a lot of ads for accountants too... at one of my old jobs (where I worked with a couple of accountants), one of them said I could be one because I was, well, a not-as-nice word for overly concerned with details. ;)
I just checked it out, and here it's a 30 week course which includes a 4 week practicum! (well at least at the place I checked, another place didn't say how long, just how many credit hours.) At any rate, that's a short course for the amount of money you could make with great hours!
I'm kind of humming and hawing between this and working Recreation in a care home. I'm not sure how much emotional energy I'll have for work so I'm thinking that legal assistant might be a better fit, even if it isn't particularily what I thought I would be when I grow up!
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