# "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:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**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, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/21 "2004-05-15T03:08:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/22 "2004-05-15T07:52:42Z")
> [@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? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/23 "2004-05-15T09:37:14Z")
> [@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. > > ```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. Actually, there’s a better way to do that. Add “site:.uk” (without the quotes) to your search. UK: [“wriggle room”: 73](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22wriggle+room%22+site%3A.uk) [“wiggle room”: 495](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22wiggle+room%22+site%3A.uk) So even in the UK, almost seven times more people say “wiggle room”. US: [“wriggle room”: 16](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22wriggle+room%22+site%3A.us) [“wiggle room”: 551](http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22wiggle+room%22+site%3A.us) But in the US, thirty five times more people say “wiggle room”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/24 "2004-05-15T10:22:12Z")
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:] ---
**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, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/25 "2004-05-15T23:59:13Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/26 "2004-05-16T00:51:48Z")
Once again I seem to go against the majority. I’ve always said/heard wriggle room. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/27 "2004-05-16T02:16:34Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091/28 "2004-05-16T07:43:55Z")
Great work, thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wiggle-room-or-wriggle-room/245091.md?page=1)