Thinking about this word, I wondered about its origins. I did a little research and it seems the etymology beyond Latin is obscure and uncertain. So why is it pronounced vane/vain when instinct tells us that it should be vine - presuming some German origin? And why is it spelt vein? In Latin, vena...

Yes Phillip, you had already replied - under Swither. But maybe we should dither this conversation lest the authorities pick up our discussion and decide to take action.

I'm not really suggesting a corruption from one to the other; just marvelling at the similarities between the meanings of rhyming words. I have long admired the large number of -ump words like lump, hump, rump, bump, stump, dump, and others, that seem to have similar meanings or at least all relate ...

Further examples might include overwhelm which really means whelm. I expect I will wake in the night with more.

Bravo Dr Goodword and Jeanne Henry. This partly answers the questions I raised in discussion of Swither. Anyone interested can pick up the debate under Swither. Consider also Tither, Mither and Either.

No wonder I can't understand it. And while on the military, this quote from NASA Watch: Although the CCAFS has no qualms about launching Deltas, Atlas and other massive rockets, they go into a complete tither when it comes down to launching a 12 inch long model rocket made of balsa wood and paper we...

Not at all. It adds to the fun.

So, Swither, Dither, Either and even perhaps Mither, and some usage of Tither. Surely an etymological connection there somewhere?

I will have a look. Sounds interesting.

The s/f confusion would explainthe Burns' word 'ftink' perhaps.

David

Love it! Thanks for this, bnjtokyo. I must say, I have always struggled with Burns. But it does suggest swither is at least a little older than 200. Your quote "...dither for fear..." probably has the modern meaning of 'inability to decide', and that appears around 200 as well. And if the internet s...

Thank you. Clear and concise. Very helpful.

Origin unknown. I wonder how old the word is. When is its first use recorded? Might there be a connection with the word dither? Perhaps combined with another starting with sw...? More likely, if swither is old that dither is a corruption of it. Delay and swither somehow mixed? Is dither an old word?...

I was caught today mis-using the word rifle. "I rifled through the various cards in his wallet". I meant riffled of course. To rifle is to steal from - a desk drawer perhaps . To riffle is well, whatever one does with a pack of cards - not shuffle exactly, but fan out and probably have a quick look ...

I see that this word was discussed in the Goodword of the day in 2005. But the lengthy discourse there doesn't answer my question. I just wrote "We need an equilibrium in the system" and Microsoft Word corrected me (how dare it!) It wants no indefinite article, and reflecting on the suggestion I agr...

Came across someone wearing a badge declaring them to be 'chef de cuisine' and thought that might be a tautology. But of course chef is french for head. I wonder why it has been appropriated for cooks when we also have 'chef de mission', and presumably 'chef de police'? 'Chief' in another word. So w...

I certainly sense some frustration here, Luke. And I don't envy you your career. But I do have deep respect that you hung in there despite the frustrations. Of course the job has its rewards too - when someone does actually learn something, for example.