grammaticaster

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

grammaticaster (gra-mah-ti-KAS-tuhr) - n., a pedantic, inferior grammarian.


Or as one dictionary puts it, "one who insists upon the minutest grammatical niceties." Like all of the derogatory -aster words, there's a strong connotation that the grammaticaster is often incorrect -- so the sort of person who insists that "He is tired" is in the passive voice because it has a form of "to be" is very much a grammaticaster. Coined on the model of poetaster (inferior poet) from Greek grammatikē, grammar + Latin suffix -aster, a diminutive or pejorative suffix denoting something that imperfectly resembles or mimics the true thing (not necessarily a person -- tofukery can be called carnaster). Note that the stressed penultimate syllable is a short A.

I'm not looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with a literary pedant and a grammaticaster.

---L.

Comments

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

LOL. A fun word and sentence. And I can't help but be curious: is the sentence in any way reflecting a situation you're dealing with today?

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Heh. No, it is not -- while there is a literary pedant in the family, she uses this power for good, or at least good conversation, and my mother didn't raise no grammaticasters.

--L.

[howeverbrief.livejournal.com]

LOL I love it!

[jesuslovesbono.livejournal.com]

heheh.

[rainbow-yarn.livejournal.com]

OHOHOOOO, do I need this word.

Many thanks!