bickering
an argument or quarrel
TRANSLATION
bickering = das Gezänk, die Streiterei --- GOOGLE INDEX bickering: approximately 2,600,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
But the BICKERING and legal battles have poisoned relations between some of the wine-growers.
(BBC News)
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He was a quiet individual, molesting no one and not given to BICKERING with his fellows.
(Before Adam, by Jack London)
(BBC News)
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He was a quiet individual, molesting no one and not given to BICKERING with his fellows.
(Before Adam, by Jack London)
Did you
know?
bickering
noun
- an argument about trivial matters
to bicker
verb
- to argue about trivial matters
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WORD ORIGIN
Bickering and the original verb form "to bicker" stems from the Middle English "bikeren/bikering," which was likely formed from the Middle Dutch "bicken," meaning to slash, stab, attack.
The modern meaning of bickering has less to do with slashing and stabbing and more to do with verbal attacks. Bickering implies quarrelling about unimportant matters, but it can be applied to arguing in general.
Actress Elizabeth Taylor, who brought bickering to a new level on the big screen when she played alongside Richard Burton in the Hollywood classic "Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf," didn't hesitate to bicker privately.
While dining with fellow Hollywood stars Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds one evening, Taylor and her third husband Mike Todd, began arguing. To their hosts' utter horror, Todd and Taylor got into a physical fight before beginning to wrestle around on their dining room floor. When Fisher and Reynolds tried to intervene, the fighting couple stopped their bickering to protest the interruption.
"We had more fun fighting," Todd later claimed, "than most couples do making love."
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SYNONYMS
altercation, clash, contention, controversy, debate, difficulty, disagreement, dispute, fight, polemic, quarrel, run-in, spat, squabble, tiff, word, wrangle
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION
Say something like:
"We could not come to an agreement because the meeting ended in lots of bickering."
noun
- an argument about trivial matters
to bicker
verb
- to argue about trivial matters
---
WORD ORIGIN
Bickering and the original verb form "to bicker" stems from the Middle English "bikeren/bikering," which was likely formed from the Middle Dutch "bicken," meaning to slash, stab, attack.
The modern meaning of bickering has less to do with slashing and stabbing and more to do with verbal attacks. Bickering implies quarrelling about unimportant matters, but it can be applied to arguing in general.
Actress Elizabeth Taylor, who brought bickering to a new level on the big screen when she played alongside Richard Burton in the Hollywood classic "Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf," didn't hesitate to bicker privately.
While dining with fellow Hollywood stars Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds one evening, Taylor and her third husband Mike Todd, began arguing. To their hosts' utter horror, Todd and Taylor got into a physical fight before beginning to wrestle around on their dining room floor. When Fisher and Reynolds tried to intervene, the fighting couple stopped their bickering to protest the interruption.
"We had more fun fighting," Todd later claimed, "than most couples do making love."
---
SYNONYMS
altercation, clash, contention, controversy, debate, difficulty, disagreement, dispute, fight, polemic, quarrel, run-in, spat, squabble, tiff, word, wrangle
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION
Say something like:
"We could not come to an agreement because the meeting ended in lots of bickering."
