We owe this word to Sir Harold Nicolson, who introduced it to the
world in the Spectator magazine in August 1952. In an issue of the
same magazine later the same year, he described a doryphore as a
"questing prig, who derives intense satisfaction from pointing out
the errors of others"
Sir Harold took it from French, in which it's the usual name for
the Colorado beetle, hence a pest.
A pedantic critic of minor errors; a nit-picker.
We owe this word to Sir Harold Nicolson, who introduced it to the
world in the Spectator magazine in August 1952. In an issue of the
same magazine later the same year, he described a doryphore as a
"questing prig, who derives intense satisfaction from pointing out
the errors of others"
Sir Harold took it from French, in which it's the usual name for
the Colorado beetle, hence a pest.
From: The weekly email of www.worldwidewords.org