Author Topic: Wibble  (Read 444 times)

guyd

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Wibble
« on: September 20, 2023, 02:11:16 PM »
Wibble - this fine word occurred to me in the course of playing the 19 Sept 2023 7BM BLOWPIPE game, however, it was terra incognita for Chi.  Wibbly Bits must be most upset  :D

I dare say it would be classified as rare:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/wibble

Wibbly Bits

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2023, 02:34:42 PM »
It is what it is.   ;D

guyd

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2023, 03:43:12 PM »
A true Stoic

Wibbly Bits

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2023, 09:43:32 PM »
I suppose I am, and without ever having studied ancient Greek philosophy.  ;)

Maudland

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2023, 07:53:37 AM »
I tried wibble too. I’m glad you’re not going through an existential crisis, Wibbly Bits 😉
« Last Edit: September 21, 2023, 08:16:02 AM by Maudland »

Wibbly Bits

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2023, 09:02:20 AM »
I didn't even see the word, so crisis averted. I have been known to get hot under the collar occasionally, but when that happens, I just loosen my collar. Have a nice day all you wonderful Chi peeps.

auntiemo

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2023, 10:07:47 AM »
I have been known to get hot under the collar occasionally, but when that happens, I just loosen my collar.
What a great strategy !
Redlands , Queensland, Australia

cmh

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2023, 05:07:02 PM »
I also saw wibble. Am I right in thinking it was one of the silly catch phrases that arose in episodes of Black Adder? The excellent First World War series possibly?

cmh

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2023, 05:10:34 PM »
Sorry. Just realised you are both from Oz so that series may not be on your radar!

Morbius

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2023, 05:59:14 PM »
We got Blackadder in Australia.  One of my favourite comedy series!  :)

cmh

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2023, 06:02:43 PM »
I had a feeling it was shown over there but then I doubted myself.  The final episode still makes me cry even after seeing it numerous times.

Alan W

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #11 on: October 02, 2023, 04:57:48 PM »
Wibble is certainly rare, but it is in some dictionaries. It's been around since the 19th century, meaning to wobble. In this sense people often say "wibble and wobble", but wibble can appear on its own, as in this quote from the Spectator in May 2022:

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But equally, I want a tart from which I can cut clean slices that wibble onto the plate, holding their shape, from the fluted pastry to the perfect, tapering nose.

I think it has the sense here of a wobble that isn't very wobbly.

The other meaning of the word is to speak or write in a vague and/or wordy manner, often as wibble on. This is where Blackadder is relevant. The word was used in the show as something meaningless, that Blackadder could repeatedly utter so as to be found insane, and escape from the war. (Spoiler alert: it didn't work.) It's possible that this is what led to wibble being used for inane chatter. At any rate, the OED has the Blackadder usage as pre-dating any other examples. However, Wiktionary mentions a comic strip character called Roger Irrelevant, who used to say "wibble wibble".

At any rate, the word has entered the language, mainly in Britain. A 2022 example from the road.cc website:

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Different tyre makers have different favoured ingredients that allegedly have certain effects, but determining what's marketing wibble and what's real is tricky.

I'll add wibble, wibbling and wibbled as rare words.
Alan Walker
Creator of Lexigame websites

cmh

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #12 on: October 02, 2023, 06:27:08 PM »
Thanks Alan. For once my brain remembered the right context for the word!

Wibbly Bits

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Re: Wibble
« Reply #13 on: October 02, 2023, 09:31:02 PM »
Cool, thanks Alan.

Now I would like to make a request that nobody berates me when I miss any of the variations in future puzzles!  :D