quibble: [17] Quibble probably originated as a rather ponderous learned joke-word. It is derived from an earlier and now obsolete quib ‘pun’, which appears to have been based on quibus, the dative and ablative plural of Latin quī ‘who, what’. The notion is that since quibus made frequent appearances in legal documents written in Latin, it became associated with pettifogging points of law.
quibble (n.)
1610s, "a pun, a play on words," probably a diminutive of obsolete quib "evasion of point at issue," based on an overuse of Latin quibus? in legal jargon, which supposedly gave it the association with trivial argument. Meaning "equivocation, evasion of the point" is attested from 1660s.
quibble (v.)
"equivocate, evade the point, turn from the point in question or the plain truth," 1650s, from quibble (n.). Earlier "to pun" (1620s). Related: Quibbled; quibbling.
实用例句
1. Let's not quibble.
我们别斤斤计较了。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Why quibble ? It just amounted to pulling an inconsiderate monkey.
算了吧,直当是拉着个不通人情的猴子吧.
来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
3. Such a quibble did not trouble Livingston and his friends.
这种诡辩并没有把利文斯顿和他的朋友难倒.
来自辞典例句
4. She's only introducing this as a quibble.
她提出此点,纯属遁词.
来自辞典例句
5. " Why quibble about the Yankees earning an honest penny selling out the Union?
