#Visser

Back in 2020 I posted about the etymology of pedant; now I offer a very interesting review by Clare Bucknell (NYRB, May 14, 2026; archived) of On Pedantry: A Cultural History of the Know-It-All by Arnoud S. Q. Visser.…

The profile of the pedant has changed surprisingly across time periods and cultures, but what’s constant is that nobody wants to be called one.