Spirited: To the narrow-eyed and small-minded it’s an exciting bone to endlessly gnaw and contend against.
Perhaps you should stop using the term, then, lest someone conclude that you are narrow-eyed and small-minded.
The point of my response is this: nitpickers are narrow-eyed and small-minded precisely because they focus on and chew away at the small and unimportant as a way of controlling and dominating other people. As for your suggestion: I never allow such people to control and dominate my thoughts and speech.