Again, keep your eyes peeled, as quip is on the move. Oscar Wilde could weaponise words via quips. Come this millennium, however, the quip’s audience holds the armoury. Now the immediate circle, as well as online scouts, have converted into jurists. Plenty of wit will pass muster, we know, attract the right emojis, win new followers, but quipmongers should note the verb’s tremor. Don’t look now, bon vivants, but quip has changed beneath your nose.
Leaving us with verb #3, and the vigil kept by Yolanda Sztarr who wrote, “To waffle means different things in Australian/British versus American English. For us, to waffle means to speak or write at length in a vague or trivial manner, while Americans see the word as failing to make up one’s mind – much like waver.”
Confusingly, Merriam-Webster, America’s main tome, allows for both senses, though local lexicons stick with the prattle concept. That said, it’s easy to imagine how the tangents converge. When pollies aren’t quipping, or elevating our hopes, they’re usually waffling as a means of shirking a decision. At least most of us can agree on waffle, the noun, defined as “a glorified pancake living on the grid.” Bullseye, delicious, as that’s a good quip.
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