fickle
adjective

- changing frequently, especially as regards one’s loyalties or affections

(Oxford English Dictionaries)

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ORIGIN

FICKLE is probably from the Old English "ficol," meaning to be deceitful, cunning or tricky. It is also related to "befician" (to deceive) and "facen" (deceit, treachery).

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TALKING POINT

A popular proverb says that "the only thing that ever stays the same is change." While this seems like a paradox, it drives home the point that change is inevitable and constant. In other words, we live in a FICKLE world.

While we often talk about FICKLE weather and stock markets, FICKLE is primarily a human trait. The co-worker who heaps praise upon you one day and criticizes you the next could be described as FICKLE. Sports fans are notoriously FICKLE. Professional (and even amateur) football players have all experienced adoring fans who wait outside the stadium for hours to get an autograph, only to have the same fans throw empty beer cups in a fit of rage at the next game after the team loses.

The entertainment business is another enterprise that can be extremely FICKLE. American TV news anchor Tom Brokaw once said, "TV is a FICKLE business. I'm only good for the length of my contract."

You may also have heard the song "Summer Wind" covered by numerous artists, including, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, Michael Bublé, and Westlife:

The autumn wind, and the winter winds they have come and gone
And still the days, those lonely days, they go on and on
And guess who sighs his lullabies through nights that never end
My FICKLE friend, the summer wind*
The summer wind, warm summer wind, the summer wind

* German lyrics: Mein flatterhafter Freund, der Sommerwind

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SYNONYMS

capricious, changeable, flighty, inconstant, irresolute, mercurial, temperamental, unpredictable, unstable, unsteady, vacillating, variable, volatile, whimsical

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PRACTICE OWAD TODAY

Say something like:

"Dealing with FICKLE customers is part of running any kind of business."