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From: Aidan Kehoe <kehoea@parhasard.net>
Newsgroups: sci.lang,alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: To waffle, 'to waver, to vacillate, to equivocate, to dither'
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 09:19:58 +0100
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 Ar an cúigiú lá is fiche de mí Aibreán, scríobh Steve Hayes: 

 > >Speaking (in sci.lang) of Andy Grove, he uses waffle in the above sense in
 > >his good, well-edited ‘High Output Management.’ In my youth I would only
 > >have used or understood the word in the meaning ‘to ramble on, to say
 > >nothing of much consequence,’ and OED2 documents that the
 > >fail-to-make-a-decision sense is colloquial or non-standard.
 > 
 > What is the "above" sense? 

The one in the subject, ‘to waver, to vacillate, to equivocate, to dither.’

 > I see no sense "above". 
 > 
 > >I presume I have misunderstood various Americans over the years in not
 > >picking up on the ‘dither’ meaning. How universal is that meaning over
 > >there?
 > 
 > For what values of "that"?

“Dither,” to fail to make a decision when making a decision would be
appropriate.

-- 
‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
(C. Moore)