30. What is whinging?
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This article is from the Science Fiction Fandom FAQ, by Vicki Rosenzweig vr@panix.com with numerous contributions by others.
30. What is whinging?
This wonderfully expressive term seems to be primarily a British
and Australian usage, or at least not a North American one. To quote
the Oxford English Dictionary:
whinge, v. orig. Sc. and north. dial. Forms: 6 quhinge,
quhynge, 9 winge, wheenge, 8 whindge, 7_ whinge, 20 winge.
[North. form of OE. hwinsian, corresp. to OHG. win(i)sôn
(MHG. winsen; cf. MHG., G. winseln):---OTeut. *_winisojan,
f. root of hwínan to whine. For the suffix cf. OE. clænsian
to cleanse, bletsian to bless, rícsian to rule, ON. hreinsa
to cleanse; for the phonology of the form whinge
cf. clenge, ringe, north. forms of cleanse, rinse.]
intr. To whine; esp. to complain peevishly. Hence
whinging (also w(h)ingeing) vbl. n. and ppl. a.
[Sorry, this isn't 7-bit clean--the etymology may
look weird to some people, but the definition should
be clear.]
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