I subscribe to a “word of the day” email. It provides a bit of a diversion and occasionally brings up some very interesting words. The other day, the word was:
CAPTIOUS: (adjective) Marked by a disposition to find and point out trivial faults.
In other words, this is the one word I didn’t know I needed because it sums up every annoying motherfucker on the internet. I can be as big a grammar nazi as anybody but one of the things that makes engaging with the average idiot online is this very thing. It isn’t so much that they disagree with me that’s the problem, it’s that they have this intellectually dishonest habit of focusing on trivialities and expecting you to waste your time with every tiny quibble they have while they ignore the actual issue at hand.
“Shut up, you’re being captious.”
“Wha?”
“It means you’re wasting time pointing out trivial things.”
“Ah, so you you’re acknowledging that I have attention to detail.”
“No, I’m saying you’re an annoying [rick and a waste of time. Now shut the fuck up before I defenestrate you.”
Thanks, word of the day!
That word describes Gerard Henderson on a good day. Especially when he is on Insiders