Re: OT: whinging (was Re: rms on debian : background noise)
Concise Oxford Dictionary gives whinge as (dialect or Australian) and
tracks it back through Old English and Old High German to a probable
root in the Germanic hwinisojan.
Geoff
On Tuesday 19 August 2003 10:50 am, Dave Howorth wrote:
> cr wrote:
> >>Hmm, I rarely heard it used in England (though I haven't lived
> >> there for 30+ years), but I've heard it used all the time here in
> >> New Zealand, I thought it was a Kiwi-ism.
>
> Mark wrote:
> > Whinge has been in common usage for as long as I can recall here
> > (UK). Probably the thing to do is for someone with access to check
> > the OED for the etymological references.
>
> I'd agree with both of you :-) It certainly gets used here in the UK
> but the archetypical use must be the Antipodean phrase 'whinging
> poms'. Is that Kiwi or Aussie?
>
> Cheers, Dave
>
> PS For any yanks who don't know the word, 'poms' is equivalent to
> 'limeys'
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