pedantics

Noun

pedantics sg or pl

1. (plural, singular) Pedantic details.
   • I deal with this type of thing every day and while I do not go into pedantics we must have scientific evidence gathered in each area to put the problem into perspective.1976, Fish and Wildlife Miscellaneous—Part 4: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of...
   • In Addis Zemen, in particular, the old hortatory pedantics of the need for progress, economic development and bureaucratic efficiency continued even after the change of regime. The only aspect of the pedantics that changed was the type of precedents mentioned in terms of development problems and...1983, Girma Negash, Language and Politics: A Comparative Analysis of Revolutionary Rhetoric of Regime Leaders and Power Contenders in Ethiopia Between 1974 and 1977, pages 220–221
2. (plural, singular) Pedantry; the quality of being pedantic.
   • It would be far better if the expression of the view of the Senate were arrived at without the necessity for pedantics—although I am not suggesting that pedantics are involved in this case—or the tagging on of things.1969, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), […] the Government Printer of the Commonwealth of Australia, page 483
   • It has to be imaginative, but at the same time we have to do a certain amount of pedantics. What I might call pedantic research to answer the questions that our first witness has to have each year.1975, Agricultural Research and Development, Special Oversight Hearings, Part II: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Science, Research and Technology and the Subcommittee on Domestic and...