Tiddlywinks
noun

- a game whose object is to snap small disks from a flat surface into a small container

Merriam-Webster

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WORD ORIGIN

Tiddlywinks’ etymology is charmingly uncertain;… with the most likely theory being “tiddly" + "wink”.

Tiddly (British slang, 1850s-1880s) meaning: small, tiny, insignificant; also: slightly drunk (hence "tiddly" for tipsy),… and possibly from "tiddler" (small fish).

Wink (verb): - The quick, light flicking motion — related to "winking" something into the air. Combined meaning: "Little flicks" or "tiny hops”.

An alternative theory suggests that it's pure onomatopoeia—the sound of the discs: "Tiddly" = the small disc being pressed + "Wink" = the sound of it popping/flicking into the air.

The game was patented in 1888-1889 in England, when whimsical, reduplicative names were fashionable (think "hoity-toity," "knick-knack," "flim-flam"). The first known use of the name appears around 1889, right when the adult craze began.

What we know for sure is that nobody actually knows for certain,... it’s a delightful irony that a game requiring such precision has an etymology that's mostly guesswork!

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A SIMPLE GAME FOR COMPLEX MINDS

The general concept of tiddlywinks, that of flicking a disk into the air, is very basic, and yet there are over 80 approved patents known, starting in 1889. Tiddlywinks was an adult craze in the 1890s, then fell into out-of-favour as a simpleminded children’s game.

Notwithstanding, it has been played since 1955 by graduates from Cambridge and Oxford Universities, MIT, Cornell, and Harvard.

 Which proves that the smartest people in the room are often playing the silliest games.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

button-popping, child's play, counter-flick game, disc-flicking game, fiddledy-winks, flick-a-disc, flick-and-land, flick-the-chip, jumping buttons, pop-the-disc, precision flicking, squidging, TIDDLYWINKS, tiddledy-winks, winks

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:

“Prince Philip once suggested that TIDDLYWINKS be included in the Olympics. To which Ian Wooldridge of the Olympic Committee responded: ‘At the risk of propagating royal support for TIDDLYWINKS, a game of the utmost tedium played by anti-athletes too tired or apathetic to get up off the floor, I have to concede that his argument makes sense’. “

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THANKS to Nick for suggesting today’s word

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