by Naomi L. | July 1, 2013 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: pedantic
Pronunciation: pə-DAN-tik
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: excessively concerned with minor details or rules or with displaying academic learning
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
I’m going to take a second here to be completely honest about something: I consider myself a little pedantic. Not about everything; mostly just when it comes to writing. I sometimes catch myself fussing over the littlest details about grammar and technique, and I haven’t been shy in the past about using advanced vocabulary in my stories to come across as an erudite writer (the fact that I just used a word like “erudite” should prove my case). Even my blog’s “Word of the Week” segment probably makes me seem pedantic. It’s a flaw of mine that I’ve had since at least my teen years, possibly stemming from my (admittedly unfounded) insecurities when I was growing up…
A person who’s “pedantic” (i.e. a pedant) is someone who tends to put extra thought into minor details or effort into proving their knowledge. The word possibly has roots in the first element of the Latin noun paedagogus (“pedagogue”, meaning “teacher”), which in turn comes from the Greek word paidagōgos (pais, paid- “boy” + agōgos “guide”).
Aside from myself, I would use a word like “pedantic” to describe a character like a particularly fussy teacher or an executive obsessed with showing off their advanced vocabulary and business skills. As far as I can tell, the word always seems to carry a negative connotation, and thus would be best considered a flaw as opposed to a neutral trait or even a strength. Pedantic isn’t something I’m particularly proud to be; your characters probably shouldn’t be either!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | July 1, 2013 | Blog, News |
So this is my first news update since I started my blog, and what a way to start the segment! I’m getting productive with my writing, I have a front-row seat to witness South American history being made, and my blog was even nominated for an award after being only a few months old! How awesome is that?
In the interest of keeping things brief, here’s a quick review of what’s happening now.
Sunshine Blogger Award
Two weeks ago, I was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by Jennifer M Zeiger! It’s a tremendous honor, and I’m very grateful for the recognition, especially from such a talented writer/blogger! An official blog post for the award will be up soon, after I finish sorting through the other great blogs I’ve started following for ten nominees to receive the award as well. The list isn’t complete yet, but note that if you’ve been actively following my blog and participating in the discussion, you can probably expect a notice of a nomination very soon!
Works in Progress
This probably goes without saying, but my blog is not the only project on my plate at the moment. Outside of my little corner of the Internet, I’m currently writing my first novel. Since it’s still very early in the works, however, the only information I can share for now is that it’ll be in the science fantasy genre (i.e. a mixed genre containing elements of both science fiction and fantasy). Aside from that, I’m considering compiling some short stories for publication, most likely in a self-published collection through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, but nothing is set in stone yet. I’m also actively participating in writing contests held at Writer’s Carnival, a great community where writers can share their work and review that of others in a fun and active learning environment.
Oh, and if it counts for anything, I’m also co-writing a scientific paper in the field of Marine Biology.
The Day Brazil Stood Still
I know this doesn’t have anything to do with my writing (yet, at least), but I still think it’s worth mentioning. At the time of writing this post, my current home country of Brazil is undergoing a huge movement for change (if you want to understand why, I recommend starting by watching this video). Since the beginning of June, hundreds of thousands of people in over 100 Brazilian cities have taken to the streets in a series of protests and public demonstrations against the corrupt government (most of which have been pacifistic, though the media seems to prefer showcasing the relatively rare cases of vandalism and violence).
But according to news spreading across social media, the biggest event of the movement so far has been scheduled to happen on the first of July, when the entire population will unite in a nationwide strike. The main objective? To show our politicians that the true power of a country lies with its people, and we won’t back down until we see the positive changes we’ve been needing for too long.
So if you don’t see me around the blogosphere today, chances are I’ve taken to the street to join Brazil’s largest movement in just over 20 years. If you want to support our cause, feel free to share the latest news on Facebook and Twitter. Help us #ChangeBrazil!
This concludes my blog’s first news post. Unlike the other topics, it won’t be a regular segment, but whenever I have important updates to share, I’ll be sure to include them in my Monday broadcasts. Thanks for reading!
P.S. To those of you reading my blog through WordPress, I think I’ve finally managed to solve the problem of the Jetpack Like button not loading properly in my posts. So if you had wanted to Like something on my site but were unable to see the button before, please feel free to go back and try again. Note that I had to disable a certain Javascript function to fix the button, so please let me know if you see any new problems on my blog after this. Thank you!
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