quibble

English

WOTD – 11 March 2012

Etymology

quib +‎ -le. Quib is probably from Latin quibus (“in what respect? how?”), which appeared frequently in legal documents and came to be suggestive of the verbosity and petty argumentation found therein.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɪbəl/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪbəl

Noun

quibble (plural quibbles)

1. (now rare) A pun. [from 17th c.]
   • 1864, Robert Kemp Philp (editor), The Family Friend (page 54)

     Is it a quibble, or play upon words?

   • 1870, Richard Grant White, The complete works of Shakspere, with a memoir, and essay:

     This is a quibble between council and counsel. The latter word is still used to imply secrecy; as in the phrase, "keep your own counsel."

2. An objection or argument based on an ambiguity of wording or similar trivial circumstance; a minor complaint. [from 17th c.]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:dispute

   He harped on his quibble about how the dark red paint should be described as carmine rather than burgundy.

   • 1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC:

     Quibbles […] have no place in the search after truth.

   • 1995 June 27, Michiko Kakutani, “Playing Pygmalion to a Hermeneutic Computer”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Toward the end of “Galatea,” there are a few missteps: […] All in all, though, these are minor quibbles.

   • 2020 March 25, “Network News: Passengers offered refunds or switched fares”, in Rail, page 7:

     Essentially, we want a commitment to no-quibble refunds, without admin fees, if people who have already paid decide not to travel because of the virus.

Translations

a trivial or minor complaint, objection or argument

• Bulgarian: заяждане (bg) n (zajaždane)
• Czech: slovíčkaření n, hašteření n
• Dutch: haarkloverij (nl) f
• Finnish: marina (fi), narina (fi), kitinä, mutina (fi) (complaint); suukopu (fi), kränä (fi) (argument)
• French: argutie (fr) f
• Georgian: უმნიშვნელო შენიშვნა (umnišvnelo šenišvna), შენიშვნა (šenišvna)
• German: kleinliche Kritik f, Spitzfindigkeit (de) f, Haarspalterei (de) f
• Italian: cavillo (it) m
• Portuguese: minúcia (pt) f
• Russian: приди́рка (ru) f (pridírka)
• Serbo-Croatian: cepidlačenje
• Spanish: sutileza (es) f, argucia (es) f

Verb

quibble (third-person singular simple present quibbles, present participle quibbling, simple past and past participle quibbled)

1. (informal, intransitive) To complain or argue in a trivial or petty manner.

   They are constantly quibbling over insignificant details.

   • 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter X, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book (please specify |book=I to VIII):

     “Oh, if you talk in that sense!” said Mr. Standish, with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client.

   • 1904 May, Winston Churchill, chapter VI, in The Crossing, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, book II (Flotsam and Jetsam), page 314:

     “I dog no one, Mr. Temple,” I replied bitterly. “We'll not quibble about words,” said he.

2. (informal, rare, transitive) To contest, especially some trivial issue in a petty manner.

   The customer quibbled the bill.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:squabble

Translations

to complain or argue in a trivial or petty manner

• Bulgarian: заяждам се (zajaždam se)
• Czech: hašteřit
• Dutch: muggenziften (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉikani (eo)
• Finnish: marista (fi), narista (fi), kitistä (fi)
• French: chicaner (fr), ergoter (fr), chinoiser (fr), chipoter (fr), pinailler (fr)
• Georgian: დაწვრილმანება (dac̣vrilmaneba), წვრილმანზე კამათი (c̣vrilmanze ḳamati)
• German: herumstreiten (de), kleinlich sein
• Italian: cavillare (it)
• Latin: cavillari
• Portuguese: preocupar-se, preocupar-se com minúcias, discutir (pt)
• Russian: придира́ться (ru) (pridirátʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian: cepidlačiti (sh)
• Spanish: buscar evasivas, sutilizar (es), andar con sutilezas