3 ms·

I was wondering the same. Was 'pedant' at the time more like what we'd call 'peasant' today?

• renewiltord 4y ago
  Etymologically appears to be 'headmaster'. I imagine that this and the Cumaeans are just a "pick a specific because it's funny" joke. Partly this makes fun of a certain class intentionally, but partly just because it's specific. For instance, there are also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardarji_joke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardarji_joke
  • trebbble 4y ago
    By the time the translation was made (~1920), it could also be "know-it-all" (I assume this started as a sarcastic use of its sense of "headmaster") which is pretty close to its typical meaning today—to me it implies someone who often, unnecessarily or inappropriately, corrects others, but that may be a recent connotation, and it's still close. We'd have to find the original text and consult a translation dictionary, I expect, to figure out exactly which sense was intended.