If It Dwadles Like a Dawdler…

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Good morning. How are you?

This is John Forster.

I’m calling you from a little town of Blowing Rock in North Carolina.

Well, what’s on your mind?

I have this word that my brother-in-law gave me, and I was sure he invented it, and the word is dwaddle. I thought it’s a great word. It’s a combination of dawdle and waddle. So dawdle, you’re just walking slowly, meandering down a road. And waddle, you sort of, perhaps my body’s moving side to side and things. And he has this one word, dwaddle, which combined the two words. And I love it. I’ve used it. I don’t think it’s a real word, but it’s really nice. It’s cool.

So where were you when he mentioned this word?

Well, as in the context I just described. So he’d see somebody in front getting in the way. We would be walking down a sidewalk and he’d see this guy in front getting in the way. And he said, oh, he’s just twaddling. And I said, Donald, it’s not twaddling. It’s dawdling or whatever. Anyway, so that’s the word he used.

But, John, it could be dwaddle. You’ll find that in Scots, English, and in the English spoken in the northern part of the United Kingdom, which is where it sounds like you’re from. You’ll find that dwaddle, with a D-W-A-D-L-L, is often used basically as a synonym for dawdle, D-A-W-D-L-E.

Oh, really? It’s just an alternative use?

Yeah, but with some variants, some variations, things like to waste time or to linger or to tarry. Yeah, and it goes back quite a way. So it’s possible that, I don’t know where he’s from, but it’s possible that he could have inherited that word. Of course, I think it’s easy enough to say that he probably could have just recoined it, too.

He’s from Chicago. He was born and raised in Chicago and then moved to Miami about 40 years ago. So I met him about 40 years ago in Miami. And he just used it. I mean, he’s an educated man. He used all sorts of good words. But dwaddle was one that got me, and I used to joke with him about it. I really like it. It sounds slower than doddle, you know, doddle versus dwaddle. You have to say it more slowly. I love it.

Oh, it does. It forces your mouth, right, to hesitate. Waddle.

Waddle, yeah. You really do. It sounds sort of like when you’re leaving a restaurant after a meal, you know, you look up from your table and you see all these people who are sort of dwaddling their way out.

Right. Yep, yep, yep. There’s a certain walk that people have.

Yeah, yeah. Well, it’s a word that can be used. I love it. I can use it with all these other words I get from your program.

Why not? Use many of them.

Well, John, thank you so much for your call. We really appreciate your time.

Thank you.

Thank you. Well, I hope you use it. It’s a great word.

Will do. Take care of yourself.

Bye-bye.

Thank you.

Thanks, John.

Bye-bye now.

Bye-bye now. Do not dwaddle for a second. Get to that phone and call us, 877-929-9673.