Wiggle room or wriggle room

Post by Guy Barry
"There isn't a lot of wiggle room there" (BBC Radio).
I've heard this phrase used quite a bit to mean "scope for interpretation"
or "room for manoeuvre", and it seems to be the generally accepted form.
However I've also sometimes heard "wriggle room", which to me perhaps has
more connotations of "wriggling out of something" or trying to evade one's
responsibilities. Are the two interchangeable?

I've never heard the "wiggle" version - only the "wriggle"; "wiggling"
is for inanimate objects and "wriggling" is for living things. In your
phrase they imply exactly the same thing.

the Omrud

2012-12-17 11:21:30 UTC

Post by Guy Barry
"There isn't a lot of wiggle room there" (BBC Radio).
I've heard this phrase used quite a bit to mean "scope for
interpretation" or "room for manoeuvre", and it seems to be the
generally accepted form. However I've also sometimes heard "wriggle
room", which to me perhaps has more connotations of "wriggling out of
something" or trying to evade one's responsibilities. Are the two
interchangeable?

Only "wriggle room" for me. "wiggle room" sounds like a mistake, but
it's close enough in meaning that the switch is understandable.

--
David

Jack Campin

2012-12-17 12:37:10 UTC

Only "wriggle room" for me. "wiggle room" sounds like a mistake, but
it's close enough in meaning that the switch is understandable.

I've only heard "wiggle room", and "wriggle" sounds like a mistake.

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mobile 07800 739 557 <http://www.campin.me.uk> Twitter: JackCampin

JOF

2012-12-17 16:46:23 UTC

On Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:37:10 +0000, Jack Campin

Only "wriggle room" for me. "wiggle room" sounds like a mistake, but
it's close enough in meaning that the switch is understandable.

I've only heard "wiggle room", and "wriggle" sounds like a mistake.

Me too. I'm in the US.

--
John

Skitt

2012-12-17 18:53:28 UTC

Only "wriggle room" for me. "wiggle room" sounds like a mistake, but
it's close enough in meaning that the switch is understandable.

I've only heard "wiggle room", and "wriggle" sounds like a mistake.

Me too. I'm in the US.

Right. "Wiggle room" is listed in M-W Online, and "wriggle room" isn't.

--
Skitt (SF Bay Area)
http://come.to/skitt

Guy Barry

2012-12-18 04:24:53 UTC

Post by Skitt
Right. "Wiggle room" is listed in M-W Online, and "wriggle room" isn't.

I'm getting the impression that "wriggle room" is gaining ground in the UK,
though, as in this headline:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/11/no-wriggle-room-eu-bill-tory-minister

I think it may be mainly journalese, though. Wiki Answers has the following
comment:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Another_word_for_wiggle_room

' "Wiggle room has been continually challenged by wriggle room, which has
the advantage of alliteration. However, wriggle (from Old English wrigian,
root of awry) means "to squirm, writhe, move sinuously," as distinct from
wiggle, which denotes back-and-forth motion, not necessarily twisting."
[source:http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2004/12/05/2003213862]
"Wiggle" room is much more correct to use the "wriggle" room, as it means
you have flexibility to adapt your strategy while still maintaining the same
direction. Wriggle room would also allow you to abandon one strategy in
favour of another, even opposite, one.
Most of the time, what folks try to imply is closer to "wiggle" than
"wriggle". '

--
Guy Barry

Steve Hayes

2012-12-18 05:24:05 UTC

Post by Guy Barry

Post by Skitt
Right. "Wiggle room" is listed in M-W Online, and "wriggle room" isn't.

I'm getting the impression that "wriggle room" is gaining ground in the UK,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/11/no-wriggle-room-eu-bill-tory-minister
I think it may be mainly journalese, though. Wiki Answers has the following
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Another_word_for_wiggle_room
' "Wiggle room has been continually challenged by wriggle room, which has
the advantage of alliteration. However, wriggle (from Old English wrigian,
root of awry) means "to squirm, writhe, move sinuously," as distinct from
wiggle, which denotes back-and-forth motion, not necessarily twisting."
[source:http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2004/12/05/2003213862]
"Wiggle" room is much more correct to use the "wriggle" room, as it means
you have flexibility to adapt your strategy while still maintaining the same
direction. Wriggle room would also allow you to abandon one strategy in
favour of another, even opposite, one.
Most of the time, what folks try to imply is closer to "wiggle" than
"wriggle". '

They don't seem to recognise the animate/inanimate distinction that others
have made, and which seems to me to be a useful one.

Now what is the difference between wiggle and jiggle?

Can one speak of jiggle room?

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

Guy Barry

2012-12-18 05:54:57 UTC

Post by Steve Hayes
They don't seem to recognise the animate/inanimate distinction that others
have made, and which seems to me to be a useful one.

I don't think that is necessarily the distinction. To "wiggle" means to
move from side to side, whereas to "wriggle" means to writhe or squirm.
It's possible for animate beings to wiggle (e.g. "she wiggled her hips").

--
Guy Barry

Snidely

2013-01-01 19:02:56 UTC

Post by Skitt

Only "wriggle room" for me. "wiggle room" sounds like a mistake, but
it's close enough in meaning that the switch is understandable.

I've only heard "wiggle room", and "wriggle" sounds like a mistake.

Me too. I'm in the US.

Right. "Wiggle room" is listed in M-W Online, and "wriggle room" isn't.

For some reason I'm thinking "wriggle", though that may or may not be
the version I'd use spontaneously. And in fact, when I first saw the
thread listed I wold have voted for "wiggle".

/dps "but I don't have a crawl space"

--
Who, me? And what lacuna?

Dr Nick

2013-01-01 19:54:05 UTC

Post by Snidely

Post by Skitt

Only "wriggle room" for me. "wiggle room" sounds like a mistake,
but it's close enough in meaning that the switch is
understandable.

I've only heard "wiggle room", and "wriggle" sounds like a
mistake.

Me too. I'm in the US.

Right. "Wiggle room" is listed in M-W Online, and "wriggle room" isn't.

For some reason I'm thinking "wriggle", though that may or may not be
the version I'd use spontaneously. And in fact, when I first saw the
thread listed I wold have voted for "wiggle".

I heard both terms being used in a discussion just before Christmas. It
was interesting in that each used theirs as though the other was using
the same term.

Peter Brooks

2013-01-01 19:56:27 UTC

Post by Snidely

Only "wriggle room" for me. "wiggle room" sounds like a mistake,
but it's close enough in meaning that the switch is
understandable.

I've only heard "wiggle room", and "wriggle" sounds like a mistake.

Me too. I'm in the US.

Right. "Wiggle room" is listed in M-W Online, and "wriggle room"
isn't.

For some reason I'm thinking "wriggle", though that may or may not be
the version I'd use spontaneously. And in fact, when I first saw the
thread listed I wold have voted for "wiggle".

I heard both terms being used in a discussion just before Christmas. It
was interesting in that each used theirs as though the other was using
the same term.

The OED does include 'wriggle' in the definition of 'wiggle':

" [OED]
wiggle, v. Now colloq. or dial.

Forms: 3–4 wigel(en, 4 wygle, -el, 7 wigle, 9 wiggle, (Sc. weegle).

[Cognate with or a. (M)LG. wiggelen, MDu. wighelen (Du. wiggelen),
frequentative f. wig- (cf. LG. wiggen, Norw. dial. vigge, wig v.1).
Cf. the parallel wag v., waggle v.
   Some compare OE. wiccliende (Haupt's Zeitschrift IX. 459/6)
glossing nutabundum, but this is prob. an error for cwiccliende
(Napier O.E. Glosses i. 2234).]

1.1 intr. To move to and fro or from side to side irregularly and
lightly, to waggle; to walk with such a movement, to stagger, reel,
also to waddle (now dial.); to go or move sinuously, to wriggle. Also
fig.

   a 1225 Ancr. R. 214 Þe ȝiure glutun‥wigeleð [Corpus MS. wigleð] ase
uordrunken mon.    1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. ix. (Add. MS.
27944) Centris is a serpente þat bendiþ noughte nouþer wigeleþ but
holdeþ alway forþ right.    1611 [see wiggling ppl. adj. below].
   1839 in F. W. Maitland Leslie Stephen (1906) 25 He wished I would
not read that kind of book that went wiggling from one subject to
another.    1839 Longfellow Hyperion iv. ii, To pass the morning, to
use his own quaint language, ‘in making dodging calls, and wiggling
round among the ladies!’    1864 W. D. Latto Tam. Bodkin xiv. 133, I
warselled an' weegled, an' kickit, an' flang.    1901 Munsey's Mag.
XXV. 340/1 He wiggled over the grass towards the concealed marksman.
   1913 G. S. Porter Laddie vii. (1917) 122 Father‥pulled his lower
lip until his ears almost wiggled.    1927 H. A. Vachell Dew of Sea
260, I must wiggle out of the mess.

2.2 trans. To move (something) in this way; refl. = 1. Also fig.

   1685 in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 343 A bare shift or
pretence to wigle myself out of danger.    c 1850 ‘Dow jr.’ in Jerdan
Yankee Hum. (1853) 86 Wiggle yourselves‥among the three, and make
headway the best way you can.    1897 V. Hunt Unkist, Unkind! xii, He
unhooked a Malay kris‥and wiggled it about in the crack of the door.

Hence ˈwiggling vbl. n. and ppl. a.; also ˈwiggletail, name for the
larva of a gnat or mosquito.

   1855 Chicago Times 9 Aug. 4/6 The mosquito proceeds from the
animalcule commonly termed the *wiggle-tail.    1884 J. C. Harris Nts.
Uncle Remus 172 Water too full of wiggletails.

   1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. ix. (Bodl. MS.), Serpentes
swymmeþ in water bi *wiglinge and foldinge of þe bodie [orig. per
corporis inflexionem].    1894 Educator (Philad.) Mar., The ceaseless
motion—the wiggling of the child.

   1611 Cotgr., Serpentant‥, wrigling, *wigling, crooking, winding.
   1849 Alb. Smith Pottleton Legacy (repr.) 51 One of those little
wiggling dogs.    1895 Century Mag. Aug. 541/2 A small, wiggling fish.

"

m***@att.net

2012-12-17 12:42:25 UTC

Post by Guy Barry
"There isn't a lot of wiggle room there" (BBC Radio).
I've heard this phrase used quite a bit to mean "scope for
interpretation" or "room for manoeuvre", and it seems to be the
generally accepted form. However I've also sometimes heard "wriggle
room", which to me perhaps has more connotations of "wriggling out of
something" or trying to evade one's responsibilities. Are the two
interchangeable?

Only "wriggle room" for me. "wiggle room" sounds like a mistake, but
it's close enough in meaning that the switch is understandable.
--
David

Wiggle room is often used to describe the fit or tightness of mechanical parts, checked not with calipers or micrometer, but, by wiggling. Wriggling would not be used in that sense, to my experience. Agree that living vs. inanimate is a factor. Heard both. Some overlap in meaning and close enough that either would be understood, even if used in the 'opposite' way....

t***@mypacks.net

2012-12-17 19:59:15 UTC

"wiggle room"

Ah'm an aMURikan

r***@gmail.com

2020-02-25 13:14:47 UTC