What is an example of pedantic, without actually using the word?

1 Answer
Jun 11, 2016

Pedantic has two major definitions: (1) to be ostentatious (showy) in learning (like using big words -essentially to the point of boredom); and (2) to be overly concerned with small details and formalities.

Explanation:

Now that we've covered the two definitions of pedantic we can make up some sentences that convey the idea without using the word or its definition.

Here are two examples for the first definition of pedantic:

1.) The doctor said to the patient: "It appears as though you have contracted a myriad of helminth infections, our magnetic resonance imaging device has detected platyhelminthes, cestodes, and trematodes."

Essentially what the doctor is trying to say is: "The MRI we took gave showed us that you have several different parasitic infections." or as some of my friends would say, "You got mad parasites bruh."

The next example is a comedic excerpt (of an answering machine) from the movie Reality Bites

2.) "At the beep please leave your name, number and a brief justification for the ontological necessity of modern man's existential dilemma and we'll get back to you."

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As for our second definition of pedantic, here are two more examples:

1.) The students were looking forward to their music class since they would have a substitute teacher for the week however the students quickly started to hate the teacher because the required all the students with red pens to keep the red pen on the right side of their desk and students with black pens on the left side of their desk.

2.) Sarah insisted that her bridesmaids all wear not only the same dresses, shoes, and jewelry in her wedding, but also the exact same hairstyle and makeup, even though the bridesmaids had very different physical attributes.

I hope this helps!