quibble (2009-05-24)

Part of Speech: verb

Pronunciation: ['kwi-bl]

Definition: To raise petty questions, to hesitate or argue over trivial issues, to cavil.

Usage: Back in September of 2001 the House of Representatives wasted a considerable amount of time quibbling, according to the media, over whether the defense budget should be $345 billion or $385 billion. Come on, fellows, what is $40 billion between buddies? Quibbling usually has to do with items far smaller than $345 billion: "Driscoll ran up a $100 bar tab, then quibbled with the bartender over a 25-cent item on it. The man is completely gonzo!"

Suggested Usage: People quibble over quibbles (the noun) and those who do so can be quite quibbly (the adjective). Quibbling is the activity carried out by quibbly people when they quibble.

Etymology: Just as a dribble is a small drip, and a nibble is a small nip, a quibble was originally a small quip in the sense of a petty remark or jibe. "Quibble," then, was a diminutive whose meaning changed as diminutives eroded from English. (The suffix still enjoys this usage in Southern Germany, where a girl is a Mädel (little maid), a Häusel is a little house and little Hans is Hänsel pronounced [hensêl].) From Latin qui, quibus (Dative-Ablative Plural) "who, which," a word often found in legal documents where quibbling is a fine art. "Qui" comes from PIE *kwo- with various endings. In the Germanic languages, the initial [k] regularly became [h], giving us "who," "where" [hwer], "why" [hwI], "whether," among others. In the Slavic languages the *kw reduced to a simple [k], to which accrued various suffixes, resulting in pronouns like kto "who," kogda "when," kuda "where" in Russian and other languages. (We shan't quibble over our gratitude to Cheryl, the Mystery Woman of Scotland, who sent in today's word. And for more PIE, read "How is a Hippo like a Feather?" in our library.)