What is Nitpicking?

[Evonisia]

I've always assumed that nitpicking was just finding minor complaints which really don't effect the main piece of 'x' much and it's just complaining for the sake of it. However I've noticed a few things that come to conflict with that. Apparently saying that a song's lyrics are bad would be nitpicking, or saying the scenery of a film is misused is nitpicking, or saying that a game's combat system is incredibly flawed/buggy is nitpicking. That seems a bit odd to me, a 'standard' song is made up of three or four major things (music/production, lyrics, vocals and occasionally meaning). A film has to use scenery to create an atmosphere because otherwise it just seems silly considering the subject matter of the dialogue and what not. A game's combat system (assuming that it's a game with lots of combat) will be something that will irritate the user throughout the game, so it's not like it's a small thing.

So what is nitpicking exactly? Because judging on some opinions like above that I keep stumbling into it seems to be complaining about only one part of something regardless of size which, as I've said before, seems silly to me.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Nitpicking is exactly what you think it means. Pointing out or complaining about something that really has very little affect on the general 'goodness' of whatever your complaining about.

For example, 'Zelda: Ocarina of Time has terrible tree visuals.' Its technically true, but it has absolutely no bearing on whether Zelda OoT is a good game.

When someone says complaining about lyrics is nitpicking, there's one thing you can assume about that person: they like rap and club music.

 

[Caiphus]

I've always understood nitpicking to be the pedantic criticism of trivial minutiae.

Or, in less silly language, banging on about bugger all. Which is what you believed as well.

Either we were initially correct, or I fear that you may have fallen victim to an Angry Person on the Internet. Chances are you said that a song's lyrics were poor and a fan of that song/artist/genre/whatever tried to hand-wave your criticism as "nitpicking"?
But then again, that's his opinion isn't it? Maybe he doesn't care about lyrics? Who judges what complaints are small enough to be considered nitpicking? Can this ever truly be objective? If so, how would one measure it?
I feel we've blown this one wide open. Answers on a postcard.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Well, the meaning is in the word isn't it... Pick at one little insubstantial fault to the detriment of the whole product.

Like say, "Wind Waker is a bad game, because water clips through the boat during sailing". Pointing it out isn't nitpicking, saying that the whole game sucks because of it is.

 

[Amir Kondori]

Nitpicking is what monkeys do to bond and eat some nits.

 

[Strazdas]

So apperently now lyrics, the most important part of a song, is nitpicking? um no. nitpicking is what you thought it is, and whoever told you otherwise was wrong. objectively wrong.

 

[shrekfan246]

When someone says complaining about lyrics is nitpicking, there's one thing you can assume about that person: they like rap and club music.

I have to hope that was supposed to be a joke, and I don't even really like either of those all that much.

OT: I've always considered it to be "excessive complaining about a singular or select few elements". Doesn't matter how important they might be to the overall work.

In the example of song lyrics, I feel that 'nitpicking' would happen when you complain exclusively about the lyrics, at the expense of even considering what about the song might be good aside from them.

In the example of background scenery in films, I'd say 'nitpicking' would be overlooking any dialogue or action happening so you can focus on the set-pieces to see if they're well-used or not.

In the example of a game's combat system, I would hope that there's more to the game than just the combat, because if not it's pretty much open season.

In a broader, more general sense, I believe somebody is 'nitpicking' when it sounds like they're just looking for reasons to say something sucks. Which varies depending on the person, the work, and the context, especially since I weigh things about songs, films, or games differently than someone else might. Personally, I don't particularly care about the composition of a shot all that much in a film. I can rarely even determine what might be "bad" directing, because film just isn't one of my strengths.

 

[BazaarFawkes]

When someone says complaining about lyrics is nitpicking, there's one thing you can assume about that person: they like rap and club music.

I have to hope that was supposed to be a joke, and I don't even really like either of those all that much.

OT: I've always considered it to be "excessive complaining about a singular or select few elements". Doesn't matter how important they might be to the overall work.

In the example of song lyrics, I feel that 'nitpicking' would happen when you complain exclusively about the lyrics, at the expense of even considering what about the song might be good aside from them.

In the example of background scenery in films, I'd say 'nitpicking' would be overlooking any dialogue or action happening so you can focus on the set-pieces to see if they're well-used or not.

In the example of a game's combat system, I would hope that there's more to the game than just the combat, because if not it's pretty much open season.

In a broader, more general sense, I believe somebody is 'nitpicking' when it sounds like they're just looking for reasons to say something sucks. Which varies depending on the person, the work, and the context, especially since I weigh things about songs, films, or games differently than someone else might. Personally, I don't particularly care about the composition of a shot all that much in a film. I can rarely even determine what might be "bad" directing, because film just isn't one of my strengths.

Very true indeed. This is even more apparent if the person in question already dislikes the material from the get-go. So now they'll be nitpicking in a more specific manner as opposed to acknowledging good aspects of whatever they're complaining about.
As much as I would love to discuss why sometimes they're wrong, it is often a frustrating lost cause.

 

[Angie7F]

i also agree that it is about people that point out anything just in order to argue.

 

[Evonisia]

Well this has been helpful, although the 'definition' does seem a little mixed at this point. Just to clarify, I wasn't told that I was nitpicking about something, I've just stumbled upon comments like it as I venture around the internet.

Nitpicking is what monkeys do to bond and eat some nits.

It's all clear now

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Passing judgment over trivial/inconsequential "issues", oftentimes very specific.

 

[Something Amyss]

I've always understood nitpicking to be the pedantic criticism of trivial minutiae.

Or, in less silly language, banging on about bugger all. Which is what you believed as well.

Either we were initially correct, or I fear that you may have fallen victim to an Angry Person on the Internet. Chances are you said that a song's lyrics were poor and a fan of that song/artist/genre/whatever tried to hand-wave your criticism as "nitpicking"?
But then again, that's his opinion isn't it? Maybe he doesn't care about lyrics? Who judges what complaints are small enough to be considered nitpicking? Can this ever truly be objective? If so, how would one measure it?
I feel we've blown this one wide open. Answers on a postcard.

And you've hit upon the heart of the matter: people often justify what they like and dismiss criticism by calling it nitpicking. It's a variant of Monty Python's Black Knight bit.

 

[Peter Hackenbeck]

Nitpicking, at it's purest, is deciding that a concert was shit because the guitarist messed up a note in one of the songs. In fact, one might argue that even pointing it out after the show, as a part of or in lieu of actual discussion of the music or event itself is nitpicking because most people wouldn't notice, very few would care and yet fewer still could possibly have a reason to care.

Criticizing a song for poor lyrics is not nitpicking because unless the music in question is instrumental then lyrics are an essential part of it and if they're flawed then the whole piece is harmed. Scenery is part of how a film builds its world and locates it's story, it may not be the most important part of a film but it warrants being done right. A combat system, assuming combat is as essential to the game in question as is in most games, is statistically going to take up the most time in that game. If the developers couldn't be bothered to address bugs in that system before launch, or if they made poor design decisions, then criticism of this system is absolutely not nitpicking.

 

[Malbourne]

I think nitpicking[footnote]Not related to pit-nicking, a fruity felony in two countries, and Pit-knitting, responsible for all those adorable Kid Icarus beanies[/footnote] is a symptom of more serious grievances, like an individual is dissatisfied with an experience and has little way to expound on their dissatisfaction. It can be a floodgate to larger criticisms, ones that may even be unfounded. It's a slippery slope. I've become upset with decent games just because I picked their nits.

 

[Something Amyss]

I think nitpicking[footnote]Not related to pit-nicking, a fruity felony in two countries, and Pit-knitting, responsible for all those adorable Kid Icarus beanies[/footnote] is a symptom of more serious grievances, like an individual is dissatisfied with an experience and has little way to expound on their dissatisfaction. It can be a floodgate to larger criticisms, ones that may even be unfounded. It's a slippery slope. I've become upset with decent games just because I picked their nits.

Did you really become upset or were you already upset? A lot of the time, people nitpick because they have an ax to grind and limited options. Nitpickers often want to hate the product in the first place.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

To the best of my knowledge nitpicking is pointing out every little mistake, problem, inconstancy, and plot hole/oversight in a work of fiction/media.

 

[Vausch]

It's when little things that don't really affect anything important get brought up front and used against a story or process.

I liked Doug Walker's idea of it though: We nitpick because the medium didn't engage us enough to let us forget it. It's why for EG I could watch Spider-Man 2002 and not get upset about the numerous little mistakes made in continuity, but I have a hard time watching Amazing Spider-Man 2012 because more major things are keeping me from enjoying it.

[sub] And now let's wait for people to accuse me of being Moviebob under a pseudonym.[/sub]

 

[Malbourne]

I think nitpicking[footnote]Not related to pit-nicking, a fruity felony in two countries, and Pit-knitting, responsible for all those adorable Kid Icarus beanies[/footnote] is a symptom of more serious grievances, like an individual is dissatisfied with an experience and has little way to expound on their dissatisfaction. It can be a floodgate to larger criticisms, ones that may even be unfounded. It's a slippery slope. I've become upset with decent games just because I picked their nits.

Did you really become upset or were you already upset? A lot of the time, people nitpick because they have an ax to grind and limited options. Nitpickers often want to hate the product in the first place.

It was all about the first impressions for me. I played the first Dead Space (whee I'm on a scary space ship!) and to it's credit, it was a good horror game. Then I met my first jump scare, and then I realized I could read the Terms of Service Agreement in the time it took to traverse a corridor, and then I realized I'd spent ten minutes just stomping on bodies...

Maybe nitpicking really was the wrong word for it. I was, uh, disappointed, I guess? I realize now I'm not a good nitpicker.

 

[DementedSheep]

Nit picking is what you think it is but since people have different ideas on what is or isn't important and some really don?t like there favorite things being criticize and tend to say everything is ?nitpicking? you get different opinions on when something is nitpicking.

Lyrics to a song are a pretty big part of the song so I wouldn't consider that nitpicking but I gues some don't care about lyrics at all