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Seems the word being translated is Σχολαστικὸς. At its root its a person who doesn't work. A scholar didn't work and could devote their time to acquiring knowl
by singlow 4y ago
Seems the word being translated is Σχολαστικὸς.
At its root its a person who doesn't work. A scholar didn't work and could devote their time to acquiring knowledge. But a lazy person could also be a scholastikos.
So I think here it is getting the double treatment, referring to a person who has lots of book smarts but no common sense.
Pedant kind of makes sense as a person who thinks themselves smart, so perfect for being the butt of a joke about being stupid. Pedant, afterall, was once just a word for teacher in English, but has taken on a negative connotation.
- camjohnson26 4y agoIs that where “pedantic” comes from?
- singlow 4y agoYou are asking whether pedantic is derived from pedant? I assume so. It can both mean like a pedant (emphasizing minutiae) or it can mean just dull, as we often think of classroom activities being dull, which is similar to didactic, although pedantic is probably only used in the negative sense where as didactic still has more neutral/positive usage in addition to meaning dull. So I am not sure if Pedantic ever meant generally to be related to teaching by design or intent.
- homonculus1 4y agoThe answer is "yes"
- bee_rider 4y agoPedantic describes the attribute of being a pedant. It is like "employee" and "employed." Hopefully this isn't too pedantic, haha, but they almost seem too closely related to describe one as coming from the other.
- koala_man 4y agoToday such jokes are made about engineers, mathematicians, and professors.