# "Wiggle room" or "wriggle room"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 14, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091 "2004-05-14T09:57:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/1 "2004-05-14T09:57:54Z")
Co-worker was laughing at me for using the phrase “wiggle room”, insisting it’s an American corruption of “wriggle room”. [This page](http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/29/messages/359.html) dates “wiggle room” at least back to 1978; I can’t find any origin for “wriggle room”. Anybody know? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/2 "2004-05-14T11:25:32Z")
I’ve always heard “wiggle room”. ---
**Author:** ![Kymodoce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8797f3/32.png) [@Kymodoce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kymodoce)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/3 "2004-05-14T11:32:25Z")
Can’t help you with the Etymology, but I’ve always heard “Wriggle room” here in my part of the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/4 "2004-05-14T11:46:35Z")
I’ve always heard ‘wiggle room’ but I may have been mishearing. More to the point, does it matter? Both obviously mean almost the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/5 "2004-05-14T12:10:51Z")
“wiggle room” as in leaving oneself the room to “wiggle” out of a situation, squeeze out, writhe out, escape ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/6 "2004-05-14T12:14:37Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > More to the point, does it matter? Both obviously mean almost the same thing. Of course it doesn’t really matter but the co-worker was just so smug about the American “mispronunciation” of the word, I’d love for him to be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/7 "2004-05-14T12:17:15Z")
strange, wiggle room is what I’m used to hearing and saying. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/8 "2004-05-14T12:19:10Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > Of course it doesn’t really matter but the co-worker was just so smug about the American “mispronunciation” of the word, I’d love for him to be wrong. Wouldn’t matter, if you called him on it he would just wiggle out of the situation ---
**Author:** ![Severian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Severian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severian)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/9 "2004-05-14T12:28:28Z")
I’ve heard both, though wiggle seems far more common and is what I would say. Of course I’m American, so maybe I’m just an idiot; cursed to wander through life mispronouncing such a profound and meaningful word. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/10 "2004-05-14T13:04:12Z")
The meanings are so similiar that you have some wiggle room, and that guy should realize that. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/11 "2004-05-14T13:43:44Z")
I googled for pages containing both terms, and there only a few [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=lang\_en&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&q="wriggle+room"+"wiggle+room"&btnG=Search](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22wriggle+room%22+%22wiggle+room%22&btnG=Search) AFAICT none were about the etymology. ---
**Author:** ![jormundgondir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@jormundgondir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jormundgondir)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/12 "2004-05-14T15:19:09Z")
Well, the oED doesn’t have direct reference to either phrase, so falling back upon the tyrrany of the masses, I chose to ask the zeitgeist directly, via google: “wiggle-room”: Results 1 - 10 of about 64,200 for wiggle-room. (0.69 seconds) “wriggle-room”: Results 1 - 10 of about 2,550 for wriggle-room. (0.11 seconds) – Did you mean: wiggle-room ? also, less applicable but interesting anyway: wriggle first used in written english text in 1495 wiggle first used in written english text in 1225 So right or wrong, wiggle is an older word, and wiggle-room is used 25 times more often. If he tries to shrug it off insisting that the internet is very much dominated by Americans and thus the Brits aren’t well represented in the numbers, well, mutter something about the fall of old-world imperialism, and suggest they can always try and take the language back. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/13 "2004-05-14T15:22:19Z")
Well that won’t really work because we’re in Ireland, but thanks for your help anyway 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/14 "2004-05-14T15:48:38Z")
:smack: I only just realised the way to do it. I googled for pages containing ‘w®iggle room’ AND ‘colour’ to see how people who tend to spell british do it. ```auto | 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. ---
**Author:** ![Amethyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@Amethyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amethyst)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/15 "2004-05-14T16:39:23Z")
Canadians use the spelling ‘COLOUR’ and say either wiggle room or wriggle room (but I think wiggle room is more common) ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/16 "2004-05-14T17:19:09Z")
> [@Amethyst](#): > > Canadians use the spelling ‘COLOUR’ and say either wiggle room or wriggle room (but I think wiggle room is more common) Can anyone think of a common word that would distingish British from Canadian? I suppose the coworker would claim it’s a canadian bastardisation with the current evidence… ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/17 "2004-05-14T18:29:35Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > Co-worker was laughing Same co-worker who doesn’t wash their hands? I am in US and have always said and heard “wiggle”. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/18 "2004-05-14T19:42:18Z")
No, not the same person 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/19 "2004-05-14T23:38:31Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > Can anyone think of a common word that would distingish British from Canadian? I suppose the coworker would claim it’s a canadian bastardisation with the current evidence… Do Canadians use Whinge? I know that most Americans don’t. Though on one board I go to “whinging and whining” is a phrase used used by lots of posters from the US and UK both since people kept asking “what does whinge mean? why do you use whine?” using both together cuts down on that. You wouldn’t get those threads in google, however, so if Canadians don’t use it, it’d be a safe term to test. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/20 "2004-05-15T02:13:24Z")
“Wiggle room” is cited by the Merriam-Webster"s Collegiate(best dic. out there, if you can’t afford the OED) from 1978. I can trace the term to the US in politics from 1965. Specifically, that it was a “new term” associated with the Johnson White House. This is NOT the “wiggle room” in your new pair of shoes. I’m off to try to find “wriggle room” but I think it won’t be that early, and not US. IMHO. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091.md?page=2)