The pedantry prance is a rhetorical debate technique wherein someone consistently plays the role of a semantic contrarian, pedantically asking “what do you
mean by X?” whenever possible, and making
bold assertions about the semantics of
words, all to overwhelm the opponent and not allow the substance of the debate to progress.
Person A: “I really don’
t think that Gina enjoys eating ham.”
Person B: “Well, what do you mean by ‘enjoy?’”
Person A: “I mean that like, she doesn’
t find ham to be a desirable
food to eat…”
Person B: “Well, to enjoy something and for something to be desirable aren’
t the same. Desire is something you long for every hour of the
day.”
Person A: “God damnit, I’ve fallen for the pedantry prance haven’t I?”