Nit

Jeff wrote to say that he gets the meaning of “Gotcha Journalism,” but wonders about related charges of nitpicking coming from conservative politicians.

Nitpickers are said to make a big deal out of minor issues. Lacking major complaints, they quibble over insignificant items. Originally, a nit was the egg of a parasitic insect like the louse. Later, by extension, it referred to the parasite itself.

Shakespeare used the word nit to designate an insignificant, inconsequential, and contemptible person.

• Love's Labour's Lost, iv. i. 146: “And his Page . ‥ Ah heauens, it is most patheticall nit.”
• Taming of the Shrew, iv. iii. 109: “Thou Flea, thou Nit, thou winter cricket, thou.”

Eventually, the term hit America. Humorist George Ade once wrote, “I don't read Books. I am an Intellectual Nit.”

Nit also shows up in nitwit, defined as a stupid, foolish, or idiotic person. Wit refers to the mind, the seat of cognition. The first citation mentioned in the OED is from The Los Angeles Times, 5 June 14: “After her trip to Virginia Miss Helen Morton was quoted as saying that Chicago men were ‘nit wits’.”

Available from McFarland & Co.: Word Parts Dictionary, 2nd edition

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