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Origin uncertain. Possibly from quib(“quibble”, noun) + -le(diminutive ending). Quib is probably from Latinquibus(“in what respect? how?”), which appeared frequently in legal documents[1] and came to be suggestive of the verbosity and petty argumentation found therein; or perhaps an alteration of quip. Alternatively, perhaps related to dialectal Dutchkwebbelen(“to speak quickly and continuously, chatter”). Compare also Scotswheebele(“a quibble”).
He harped on his quibble about how the dark red paint should be described as carmine rather than burgundy.
1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick:, London: James Brackstone,, →OCLC, paragraph:
Quibbles[…]have no place in the search after truth.
1995 June 27, Michiko Kakutani, “Playing Pygmalion to a Hermeneutic Computer”, in New York Times:
Toward the end of “Galatea,” there are a few missteps: […] All in all, though, these are minor quibbles.
2020 March 25, “Network News: Passengers offered refunds or switched fares”, in Rail, page 7:
Essentially, we want a commitment to no-quibble refunds, without admin fees, if people who have already paid decide not to travel because of the virus.
“Oh, if you talk in that sense!” said Mr. Standish, with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client.
“I dog no one, Mr. Temple,” I replied bitterly. “We'll not quibble about words,” said he.
2023 July 24, Ryan Mac, Tiffany Hsu, “From Twitter to X: Elon Musk Begins Erasing an Iconic Internet Brand”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Mr. Musk has shown a disdain toward Twitter’s previous corporate culture. He has quibbled with the number of bird references in the company’s internal team names and products.