Quibble, and it’s related term quibbling, are very old [archaic] by world standards. It was one of those words that made it’s way into an early edition of Websters “An American Dictionary of the English Language” [circa 1830] when a contributor, named S.L. Payne, got his editor, Noah Webster, to include it as the new dictionary grew. Payne was noteworthy for several of his contributions to Webster’s work.
Among these was “fair shake” a noun, dated 1830, which is defined as : a fair chance or fair treatment <give the negative side a fair shake — S. L. Payne> and “quibble” :something (as a line of reasoning adopted, an objection made, a distinction drawn, a point advanced) that evades, shifts from, or obscures the real point at issue in some discussion or argument by reason of centering on what is relatively unimportant and often petty or totally irrelevant and that is marked typically by hedging or equivocation <produces more ~s and qualifications than it does direct answers -S.L. Payne>
And so it was written into Webster’s dictionary.
These words played a major role in the tone of debate through some of the toughest times in American and, indeed, world history such as the Abolition of Slavery, the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, Women’s Suffrage and countless other advances in the American Culture. These words were bedrock in “the Age of Literacy” and echoes of them still remain.
In the 20th Century, communications technology made astounding advances in the frequency with which common folk got their news. Movies, telephone, radio, television, cable tv, faxing, the internet and cellular technologies all came forward at a lighting pace. People were drawn like lemmings to these new and ever faster delivery systems for news and information and commercials and infomercials.
Like all modern humans, Americans were divided culturally by their sex and sexual orientation, ethnicity, belief systems including religion and politics, skin color, wealth, poverty, education, environment, and countless others. Sit down sometime and make a list of how many ways we can divide up Americans. Don’t forget to add those with infectious disease . . . the dreaded “virus” to your list. This dividing has traditionally led to violence and death. Not a pretty picture!
By the later half of the 20th Century the stage was set for quibbling to go viral. Every waking moment we are bombarded by new troubling quibble disguised as information by the media that profits from it’s distribution.
Vidiots like us now believe that “Viral Quibbling” is the leading cause of stress related disease of every sort . . . BAR NONE! We won’t waste your brainspace by reciting a list of these diseases. Anecdotal evidence is everywhere!
An Example of “Viral Quibbling” TODAY
This billboard is one example of free speech gone amuck because it does not provide a “fair shake”!
UPDATE: 7/25/2010 On NBC “Meet the Press” David Brooks, talking head for the New York Times, repeatedly mentions the word “squabble”. Squabble in reference to the subject of race relations in America. Vidiots know that Squabble is the dumb inbred cousin to Quibble.
Tags: communications, disease, evolution, media, revolution, squabble, stress, video, Videography, virus
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