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I'm looking for a term that means essentially “pedantic-ness”. What is the correct term?

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Probably because the answer can be found in a dictionary. – Hugo Oct 6 '11 at 18:50
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@Hugo (and downvoters): yes, once you know the word, you can easily look it up in the dictionary. But if you simply can't think of the word, or don't even know it exists, then where exactly are you going to look? – Marthaª Oct 6 '11 at 19:00
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@Martha I mean you can look up the word you do know (pedantic) in a dictionary and find pedantry. – Hugo Oct 6 '11 at 19:09
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@Hugo: Well, we could argue in circles about this for days. But you're saying that assuming that the OP knew that there was a noun form of the adjective "pedantic", and assuming that he knew that a Google search of "pedantic noun" would find this word, then he could have easily answered his own question. Well, sure. But he obviously knew neither of those things and was asking for help. Why not just answer the poor guy's question rather than ridiculing him for asking? Sometimes it's easier to help people than to step on them. – Jay Oct 7 '11 at 16:35
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@Hugo Stop being so pedantic. Your pedantry has no place here. :) – Urbycoz Oct 11 '11 at 14:29
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closed as general reference by Hugo, PLL, simchona♦, Daniel δ, kiamlaluno Oct 7 '11 at 11:21

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

2 Answers

up vote 20 down vote accepted

My choice would be pedantry.

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Wasn't obvious to me. Thanks! – Urbycoz Oct 6 '11 at 10:40
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Are there really places where pedantry is unwelcome? :) – onomatomaniak Oct 6 '11 at 11:16
That's probably better than my choice, which is a 3-letter word that rhymes with grass. – Mark Thomas Oct 6 '11 at 12:12
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You could also consider pedanticism - that's the one that comes to mind for me, but I'm not saying it's any better! – AAT Oct 7 '11 at 0:19
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In simple English, you may say: "Stop being so pedantic. Your style is out-of-place here." or "Stop being so pedantic. Get off your high horse."

"Get off your High Horse" means to say, "get off your lofty perch," from which perch, you are "looking down" upon us, disdainfully.

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