cavil

cav•il (kav'-uhl)

Definition: 
v-i

1. to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily
v-t
2. to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections
n
3. a trivial and annoying objection
4. the raising of such objections

caviled or cavilled past tense and past participle; caviling or cavilling present participle; cavils 3rd person singular present; caviler or caviller noun

Related:
Synonyms: carp, quibble, fuss, niggle, nitpick
Related Words:: calumny

Examples:
• Certainly we ought not to cavil at this ; nor ought we to cavil at music we might consider a little too rapid and incessant, or ornaments we might consider a little florid, if they create in worshippers, especially in poor worshippers, an increased interest in the places in which they worship. But cavil we must, if ritualism goes farther. -1880
• "Are you disposed to cavil at that?" he repeats. "Are you inclined to add yourself to the number of the pack of hounds who are trying to hunt her down for having had the pluck to break those chains of slavery which were forged about her in her childhood, by a man who was base enough to marry her before she knew what love or her own mind was?" -All The Year Round, Charles Dickens

The Storyline
Right on cue, Kurt began to cavil at the still groggy Tyler about the mess he'd made dumping ashes on their thrift-store sofa.

Origin:
1542; from M.Fr. caviller "to mock, jest," from L. cavillari "to satirize, argue scoffingly," from cavilla "jest, jeering," akin to Latin calvi to deceive

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Why This Word:
Turn on your favorite 24-7 cable new channel an you'll hear the clacking cacophany of the caviling cabal of critics finding fault in the most minute misstep of their appointed opponents. Nattering nabobs of negativity - harumph!
Okay. "Appointed opponents" isn't strictly speaking alliteration. Stop being so caviling.
Whatever it is in the Zeitgeist (perhaps it is fluoridation in the water after all), ours is the age of the cavil. Rather than engage in substantive discussions of some rather serious and consequential matters our political discourse focuses on each minor misstep or perceived misstep or manufactured misstep of "the other side".
It goes without saying, of course, that it isn't caviling when "our side" does it.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

captious

cap•tious (kap-shuhs) \kap-shəs\ adj

Definition
1. marked by an often ill-natured disposition to find fault or raise objections
2. calculated to entrap or confuse, as in an argument

captiously adverb; captiousness noun

Related
Synonyms: critical, carping, caviling, faultfinding, hypercritical, judgmental, overcritical, rejective
Related Words: taking from captus, pp. of capere "to take, catch": capture, caption, captivate, captive, capacity

Examples
• It is an easy matter to perceive by the tenor of one of them you have imbibed an Opinion that the Officers of this Army are captious, and that by attempting to remove one complaint, a Door is opened to others. The Writings of George Washington
• Some men are more captious than others; some are always wrong-headed: but every man living has such a share of Vanity, as to be hurt by marks of slight and contempt. Lord Chesterfield

The Storyline
But she resisted her captious urges and instead ushered the lost lamb to his door.

Origin
c.1400, capcyus, from M.Fr. captieux (15c.), from L. captiosus "fallacious, sophistical, insidious" from captio (gen. captionis) "a deceiving, fallacious argument," lit. "a taking (in)," from captus, pp. of capere "to take, catch" from PIE *kap- "to grasp"

Sources: Online Etymology, Merriam-Webster

Why This Word:
It's hard not to be captivated by the web of connections in meaning of the words drawn from capio - to take hold of, grasp. In Latin as in English, grasp means mental grasp (capacity) as well as physical (capture). And taken means taken in, deceived (captious) as well as captivated.

But, in truth, the reason captious originally captured my attention is the twinge of recognition. Any person interested in words and grammar certainly knows at least the impulse to criticize others' errors, albeit with the best of intentions.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day