TC/SE guide pg 65 #2

[math noob]

If a crotchet is a perverse/unfounded belief or notion, how does it make sense to say that the serial comma is a crotchet of many grammarians? It seems unsuitable to me that we'd say the serial comma itself is an unfounded or perverse belief they have (especially when they oppose it), rather than their belief about how the serial comma impacts sentences being unfounded.

Thank you

[tommywallach]

Nah. A crotchet is the category of belief type: in other words, whatever the belief is, it qualifies as a crotchet if it's held without real evidence, or a pointless amount of stubbornness. The example given in the OED is:

"the natural crotchets of inveterate bachelors."

As you can see, we don't have to specify the individual belief for it to be a crotchet. It's more a type of belief that a certain type of person has.

-t