WibbleWobble.com
Motherism list, further down the page, as well as Gobbledygook generation as well
WIBBLE-WOBBLE
The first written reference to the conjoined words wibble wobble cited in the 2nd edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is to a book by James O. Halliwell from 1847, "A dictionary of archaic and provincial words, obsolete phrases, proverbs and ancient customs, from the fourteenth century", which infers that the words have been used in English since as early as the 14th century.
Probably formed by taking WOBBLE, and duplicating that with a vowel-variation into WIBBLE, to show alternation of movement, as in zigzag. See WIBBLE below for an alternative origin.
Meaning:- to vibrate; to quiver; to oscillate; shaky; tottering; insecure; unsteady, wobbly and the erratic wobbling motion of objects generally. Also wibbly-wobbly, wibbling and wobbling, wibblety-wobblety.
Wibble-wobble is most frequently found in rhymes for pre-school and school age children, as a description of jelly wobbling on a plate, or wobbling generally.
On the net there are various rhymes the most typical of which are reproduced below.
Another use is defined at www.urbandictionary.com as "A phrase used to deliberately confuse, confound or befuddle a person with little or no grasp of the English language, who is employed in a job or position where the speaking and the comprehension of English is of paramount importance.
Its use is more effectively enhanced in a sentence which utilizes other complicated or easily misunderstood words; for example:-
Gas attendant: What now you want me?
Motorist: My good man, could you direct me, expeditiously if you please, to Wibble Wobble Ave?
-or-
Busboy: Can I help to you much?
Diner: Yes my dear fellow, we require forthwith, more bread rolls and a commodious pitcher of iced Wibble Wobble."
WIBBLE
The origin of the UK slang term wibble is speculated on in the 2002 edition of Chambers English Dictionary as being a truncation of "witter" and "dribble". See WIBBLE-WOBBLE above for the first written reference & alternative origin.
Meaning:- to speak foolishly; to talk at length about inconsequential matters, or say anything important; to witter or waffle; to talk drivel.
More recently it has been used as a metasyntactic variable (i.e. a placeholder name, denoting an "alias" or constant for the subject matter in a discussion or a number in an algorithm). This is possibly because it was used as a nonsense word in the "Roger Irrelevant" strip in VIZ comics in the 1980s and later the "Goodbyeee" episode of "Blackadder Goes Forth", broadcast on 2 November 1989. It further spread via "Your Sinclair" magazine in the early 1990s and thus became more prominent as a word on its own.
It also substitutes for the "www" in spoken-word URLs (i.e. "wibble dot example dot com" is said, meaning www.example.com).
WOBBLE
The first reference in the 2nd edition of the Oxford English Dictionary to WOBBLE is 1657, describing birds that "go wabbling from side to side".
Meaning:- The action or an act of wobbling; to move unsteadily from side to side or backwards and forwards (without progression or with uncertain direction); an unsteady rocking motion or movement; to shake or quiver like a jelly or fleshy body; to hesitate or waver between different opinions or courses of action; to be inclined to favour first one side and then the other; to cause to move unsteadily from side to side.
There are many other uses of the word with scientific, industrial and simple common meanings.
| A playground long rope skipping song |
A baby jogging rhyme |
Six Little Ducks follow the leader |
Jelly on a plate Jelly on a plate Wibble wobble wibble wobble Jelly on a plate Pickles in a jar Pickles in a jar Ooh ah, ooh, ah, Pickles in a jar Sausage in a pan Sausage in a pan Turn it over, turn it over Sausage in a pan. |
Jelly on a plate (Gentle bouncing) Jelly on a plate Wibble wobble (Rock side to side) Wibble wobble Jelly on a plate Sweeties in a jar Sweeties in a jar Shake them up (Gentle shaking) Shake them up (Gentle shaking) Sweeties in a jar Candles on a cake Candles on a cake Blow them out Puff, puff, puff, (Gentle blowing) Candles on a cake |
Six little ducks That I once knew (Kids line up and follow the leader) Fat ones, skinny ones, Fair ones, too (use hands to show "fat", "skinny" & "fair") But the one little duck with the feather on his back (touch back in front of you) He led the others with his quack, quack, quack Quack, quack, quack, Quack, quack, quack He led the others with his quack, quack, quack. (flap wings with each quack) Down to the river they would go Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble, to and fro (All wiggle their bottoms) But the one little duck with the feather on his back He led the others with his quack, quack, quack Quack, quack, quack, Quack, quack, quack He led the others with his quack, quack, quack. Into the water they would dive Over and under the other five (Kids all weave around each other) But the one little duck with the feather on his back He led the others with his quack, quack, quack. Quack, quack, quack, Quack, quack, quack He led the others with his quack, quack, quack. Home from the river they would come Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble, ho, hum, hum But the one little duck with the feather on his back He led the others with his quack, quack, quack Quack, quack, quack, Quack, quack, quack He led the others with his quack, quack, quack. |
| ORIGINAL | MOTHERISM |
| Mr Cook | Mr Kitchen |
| Angel Delight | Heavenly Pudding |
| Bumper on a car | Knocker |
| Gerbils | Breugels |
| Sailboarding | Hardboarding |
| Mothercare | Bairnswear |
| RC (Roman Catholic) | RAC |
| Sleeping Policeman | Dead soldiers |
| Standpipe | Stanleypipe |
| Carry-out | Bring-in |
| Yacht tiller | Wavy steering lever |
| Waders | Long paddling boots |
| Depository | Suppository |
| Soft top, convertible | Soft-back |
| Swiss Army knife | Red Cross knife |
| Piece of cake | Piece of jam |
| The Dirty Dozen | The Ugly 12 |
| Pay & Display | Pay As You Earn |
| Logo | Logi |
| Moored yachts | Resting yachts |
| Headless chickens | Demented hens or Hen with no tail feathers |
| Pointing (as in brickwork) (& actually, a Matt-ism) |
Spiking |
| Crofts Old Original | Crofts Old Practical |
| Wuthering Heights | Wittering House |
| 3-2-1 (a countdown) | 3-4-2 |
| The Cherry Orchard | The Apple Yard |
| Porno | Prawns |
| Wheelchair friendly | Armchair friendly |
| Trainers | Running Jumpers |
| Fell off the back of a lorry | Dropping off the edge of a donkey |
| Pot belly pig | Belly pork pig |
| Mortice & tenon | Pestle & mortar |
| Zilch | Nilch |
| Mobile | Aerial phone or Hand phone |
| Skin a rabbit | Peel a chicken |
| Underfloor heating | Underwater heating |
| Charnock Richard Service Station | Neil Kinnock Service Station |
| Hangover | Hangup or Headover |
| Virgin Rail | Virgin Oils or Virginia |
| Festival Fringe | Festival Edge or Festival Rim |
| Two pronged attack | Two forked attack |
| Russel Hobbs kettle | Robin Hussell kettle |
| Shuttle | Scuttle or Skittle |
| Atlantis | Mauritania |
| Muscular Dystrophy | Multiple Dystrophy |
| Instant coffee | Tinned coffee |
| Capability Brown | Clatterbridge Brown |
| Apex | Ajax |
| Compass | Metronome |
| JCB | Mincer |
| Mouse (computer type) | Monkey |
| Dallas Cowboys | Callous Doughboys |
| Hob-Nobs | Hobble-de-Hoys |
| Joss sticks | Jock straps |
| Main pendant light in room | Headlight |
| Nose bag | Neigh bag |
| Citroen Picasso | Citroen Cezanne |
| Pie in the sky | Pie in the eye |
| The Da Vinci Code | The Medici Code |
| GP14 (General Purpose 14' dingy) | PC13 |
| The Rolling Stones | The Lippies |
| Fresh off the press | Fresh off the ironing board |
| Cloak & Dagger | Black & Decker |
| Mappa Mundi | Maundy Thursday Book |
| Babbling brooks | Bubbling books |
| Telephone | Dialing machine |
| Multi-national | Multi-vitamin |
| Bagels | Beagels |
| Commercials (TV type break) | Industrials |
| Where is the car parked? | Where is the car anchored? |
| VCR | PVC |
| Bull bars (on a car) | Hippo bars |
| Burger King | King Prawn |
| Post mortem | Mortar board |
| The icing on the cake | The icing on the chocolate box |
| Canary Wharf | Yellow Whale |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | Arnold Stroganoff |
| You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink |
You can only take a cow to its food |
| Bill Oddie | ill body |
| Send in a search party | Send in a research party |
| Laptop | Kneepad or Microwave n.b. microwave is useable, apparently, for all modern technology |
| Dumbledore of Harry Potter fame |
Dusseldorf |
| an Ibsen play | an Epstein play |
| Botox | Bogoff |
| Shingles (the infection) | Pebbles |
| Keyhole surgery | Pinhead surgery |
| Password | Patchwork |
| Treen & Terracotta | Trinny & Susannah |
| Lower class | Lower ground floor |
| Crafty Kitchen (the name of a shop) |
Jolly Kettle |
| Crocodile Dundee | Cowboy Joe |
| Eddie Stobart | Ben Stoppard |
| Geek | Glimp |
| Tescos | Texas |
| How long is a piece of string | How much is a piece of rope |
| Fracture Clinic | Breakage of limbs department |
| Floss | Tooth String (a Steph original) |
| Little Bo Peep | Little Miss Bee Po (a Steph original) |
| Outlet store | Drop-out shop |
| Harley Davidson | Harvey Nichols |
| Headphones | Earpods |
| ipad | plinkity-plonk |
| Online | On the line |
| Low alcohol beer | Anti beer |
| Cullen skink | Skunk |
| The Glory Hole | Naughty bits |
| The melting pot | The boiling pudding |
| Honey Glazed Duck | Shiny Pigeon |
| Original | Motherism |
| Original | Motherism |
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