Comment by notpachet
8 hours ago
> pettifogging
Off-topic but just wanted to thank you for teaching me a new word. I try to always reply to HN comments that expand my vocabulary.
8 hours ago
> pettifogging
Off-topic but just wanted to thank you for teaching me a new word. I try to always reply to HN comments that expand my vocabulary.
Is pettifogging some kind of etymological parent of bikeshedding then?
Nice word.
I rue the day the IG reels crowd pick up on it and it becomes the "word du jour" that gets overused to the point of being intolerable. Right up there with "narcissist" and "gaslighting".
The problem isn't so much overuse as misuse, as "gaslighting" gets thrown around for almost any kind of falsehood.
Another example would be "Ponzi scheme", which I've seen abused for any situation the speakers seems unsustainable, even when there isn't any records fraud.