| 词汇 | nitpicker |
| 词源 | nitpicker. “She can wel pyke out lyce and nitis,” William Cax- ton, the first English printer, wrote in a book of fables he trans- lated from the French and published in 1484. But it took centu- ries before a nitpicker, “one who picks lice eggs [nits] from one’s body or clothes,” changed in meaning to one who looks for and finds small errors (as small as nits), a pedant. I’d guess that the expression is an Americanism dating to the late 19th century. |
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