"Wiggle room" or "wriggle room"?

[samclem]

William Safire, the political columnist and etymologist, in a NYTimes column from 1985 opined that it ought to be “wriggle room” rather than “wiggle room.” His rationale was that

you can wiggle your way out of a tight spot, but you really have to wriggle to squeeze out of a trap.

The term, from all I can find, started out life as “wiggle room” in the 60’s US. I can find no newspaper cites of “wriggle room” before Safire in 1985. That doesn’t mean there weren’t any. Perhaps it was “wriggle room” in Britspeak slightly before 1985. But I stand by my 1960’s US “wiggle room” evidence.

[ruadh]

@samclem

But I stand by my 1960’s US “wiggle room” evidence.

Which is… ? You’ve said that it goes back to the Johnson administration, but what’s the exact original cite?

[Eleusis]

@Shade

:smack: I only just realised the way to do it. I googled for pages containing ‘w(r)iggle room’ AND ‘colour’ to see how people who tend to spell british do it.

             |  color  |  colour
-------------+-------------------
wiggle room  |  7,080  |  6,940
-------------+---------+---------
wriggle room |   177   |   156

So it doesn’t look like just Americans who prefer ‘wiggle’. Of course, it’s possible that ‘wriggle’ was the original (it is more alliterative) but I don’t think this strengthens your friend’s position.

Actually, there’s a better way to do that. Add “site:.uk” (without the quotes) to your search.

UK:
“wriggle room”: 73
“wiggle room”: 495

So even in the UK, almost seven times more people say “wiggle room”.

US:
“wriggle room”: 16
“wiggle room”: 551

But in the US, thirty five times more people say “wiggle room”.

[Marley23]

I’ve never heard “wriggle room” before. I find that sort of surprising, since idiomatic expressions seem to get botched so often. [I’m one of those people who’s going to explode the next time he sees ‘for all intensive purposes’… :smack:]

[samclem]

@ruadh

Which is… ? You’ve said that it goes back to the Johnson administration, but what’s the exact original cite?

My cite is from 7 April, 1965. The Gettysburg Times, page 7, column 6:

In another area, the senators differed on U.S. conduct in the war in South Vietnam. Clark(ed.–Sen. Joseph S. Clark, D-PA) said “We’ve gone about to the outer limit” in military action against the Communist guerrillas. He said he wants “wiggle room” left for negotiations to avoid a major war.

I was WRONG in my previous post when I said it came from the Johnson White House. I misread a 1968 cite which I found, which said the term “wiggle room” was a currently popular phrase in the White House.

I can also supply a 1967 quote from the same Senator, Jos. Clark, which uses “wiggle room” in talking about a bill.

Perhaps Clark originated the term.

[jastu]

Once again I seem to go against the majority. I’ve always said/heard wriggle room.

[samclem]

@jastu

Once again I seem to go against the majority. I’ve always said/heard wriggle room.

I think that’s the difference between Brit/Oz/Kiwi English and 'Merkin.

The phrase almost certainly is US origin from what I can contribute.

[ruadh]

Great work, thanks.