eristic vs picayune

eristic

noun
  • A type of dialogue or argument where the participants do not have any reasonable goal. The aim is to argue for the sake of conflict, and often to see who can yell the loudest. 

  • One who makes specious arguments; one who is disputatious. 

adj
  • Provoking strife, controversy or discord. 

picayune

noun
  • An argument, fact, or other issue raised (often intentionally) that distracts from a larger issue or fails to make any difference. 

  • A person regarded as unworthy of respect or useless; also, something of very little value; a trifle. 

  • A small coin of the value of six-and-a-quarter cents; a Spanish coin with a value of half a real; a fippenny bit. 

adj
  • Of little consequence; small and of little importance; petty, trivial. 

  • Childishly spiteful; tending to go on about unimportant things; small-minded. 

How often have the words eristic and picayune occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )