Nitpicking (pastime)

This article is about the figurative use of the term. For other uses, see Nitpicking (disambiguation).

Nitpicking is the pastime of pointing out minor flaws or mistakes. The term is often used in a negative light. The term comes from the intense concentration and careful attention to detail required when nitpicking (searching for the eggs of lice, known as nits).

Film and television

Some nitpickers specialize in finding mistakes in movies and television shows. These mistakes can range from very trivial mistakes that regular viewers don't notice, to very serious mistakes which disrupt the suspension of disbelief in the show's story for even casual viewers. The types of mistakes include inconsistencies or even contradictions between episodes in a series,^[1] to plot devices and oversights, to production problems.^[2]

Nitpickers will also be inclined to find trivia in a show, including possible "inside jokes" and "signature items" added by the writers or other members of the production team.

When a recurring signature item is found in a series (such as the occurrence of the number 47 in Star Trek), nitpickers will often pore over the episodes with great diligence to find all the occurrences.

Books have been published on the subject, such as The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes (for fans of The X-Files) by Phil Farrand. Farrand started with four books nitpicking Star Trek and a couple^[quantify] of its spinoff series^[which?].^[3] Since the beginning, Farrand has emphasized that nitpicking should be done "with good cheer."^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Moviemistakes.com
• Picky
• Recondite

References

1. ^ Farrand (1997): xiii. "Under Changed Premises you'll discover that sometimes information given in one show [episode] directly contradicts information in another."
2. ^ Farrand (1997): xiii–xiv. "Lastly, the section on Continuity and Production Problems will expose errors in the actual creation of the show—from microphone booms reflecting in picture frames and car windows to leaping hippopotami to neckties with minds of their own."
3. ^ Phil Farrand, The Nitpicker's Guide for X-Philes. New York: Dell Publishing (1997): xii. "And there were those—upon hearing my plans for an X-phile Guide—who wondered if nitpicking could be extended to anything other than a space show like Star Trek."