Not always in our environment there are only good and decent people. As a rule, fate teaches many lessons in the form of meeting with envious and mercantile personalities. A petty person is one who pays attention to completely unnecessary things, ignoring the most important thing. In most cases, pettiness manifests itself in many from different sides.
We will talk about this in more detail and learn how to turn communication with such people into a pleasant pastime.
First side
A petty person is an individual who pays attention to all trifles. He cannot determine the essence of this or that problem and is obsessed with absolutely unnecessary things. Thus, such a person brings himself much more harm than others. He is so busy with various details that he cannot reach the main problem.
It is very unpleasant when the boss acts as such a picky person. He forces to redo the work again and again, finding fault and searching for minor flaws. In family relationships, a petty person is also a real disaster. It is unlikely that the other half will like to constantly hear about their minor flaws.
What linguistics says about it
According to the explanatory dictionaries of Ushakov, Dahl and Ozhegov, a petty person is an individual who pays too much attention to trifles (trifles). We can say that such people always exaggerate the significance of all things and problems. Quarrels, squabbles and provocations - this is one of the favorite activities that the petty person is passionate about. Synonyms for this expression can be selected as follows: cheap, pedantic, sloppy.
Money loves counting - the motto of petty people
Of course, it cannot be denied that saving and proper management of financial resources is very relevant in our time. However, the ancient Greeks did not say for nothing that the measure, one way or another, should be in everything.
It’s precisely about this that a penny never once thinks. He considers everything and always. Many of them even count down what, when and to whom they presented. You should not borrow money from such a person, because he will remember everything, and then every time he will look at you with contempt.
What traits do petty people have
It is impossible to deny the fact that each character trait cannot be shown in two people in exactly the same way, but nevertheless a petty person is a characteristic that includes certain behaviors in society. Such people are prone to quarrels and scandals. They look for flaws in everyone and find them with success. And it’s good if such a person is secretive by nature, and you will never know what his opinion really is about you. The other side of the coin, which is most common, is the meanness of such people.
They express their petty opinion about you not personally to you, but to someone else: neighbors, relatives, acquaintances. In other words, such people are very fond of gossiping about other people's insignificant shortcomings. Among other carriers of this character trait, you can also find those who say everything personally to your eyes. Of course, it’s not very pleasant when you are constantly looking for flaws and telling you about them in person. For this reason, it can be said that a picky petty person, as a rule, does not differ in special tact and politeness.
The opposite of pettiness
What antonym can I choose for this word? Undoubtedly, this is "distraction." This feature is characterized by complete indifference to various trifles. Pettiness, as well as absent-mindedness, are negative character traits that need to be changed in oneself.
It is necessary to look for a middle ground where a person will not miss important things, but at the same time he will not pay too much attention to trifles. For others, communication with this type of people is quite difficult, which often causes conflicts both in the family and at work.
An interesting comparison in his writings is Pierre Bouast. He perfectly characterizes what a petty person means and how it looks from the outside. P. Boast said that such people are like snails - they crawl along the road, stop, bumping into obstacles, examine them, but do not advance further.
In fact, because if you do not waste time on trifles and concentrate on a common problem, you can manage to do much more. Without focusing on trifles, you can live life to the fullest and not waste time on things that no one needs. Due to the fact that petty people do not find time to be happy, they very often grumble and mumble about trifles. Most likely, they once did not think that the time they spend on finding flaws can be used more rationally and with benefit for themselves.
In order for small people not to annoy you, you need to learn one tricky method: do not pay attention to them and focus on the problems that concern them. Of course, sometimes in order to avoid conflict, a minor flaw that the pedant noticed is easier to eliminate. However, you should not do this all the time, because you run the risk of becoming the same picky and petty person.