tldr; piddling can mean unimportant when used as a verb or small when used as an adjective. Its use depends on the action taken relative to its importance when used as a verb or the noun described in context to the relative importance of the size of the noun described when used as an adjective.
I thought of "fiddle-faddle" but wasn't sure if it's primarily used in the south. At first i thought it odd that i'd think of that, but then i received something like an impression that makes into one family what was earlier divided into two factions split down the middle over the use of piddling.
If i wasn't reminded of reese's singing on that video, i probably wouldn't have thought of the guitar and then another stringed instrument, the fiddle, which led to fiddle faddle. Paradoxically, this was one instance fiddle faddle became important.
Here's how.
There is a simple way to reconcile the seemingly contradictory uses of the word due to the ambiguity of the meaning of piddling/piddly.
If it is used in the literal sense we find in the dictionary defining either form as "trivial" then it can be used in
both the qualitative and quantitative sense correctly (merriam-webster, 2018).
Much like the other colloquial slang phrase "bless your heart" which can have its intended meaning vary according to the context in which it's used, so also can piddlin'.
To keep it simple, let's stick with that dictionary definition of "trivial" to show how it can be used quantitatively and/or qualitatively.
If someone is just piddling, then what they are doing isn't important and isn't very productive to describe their activity qualitatively.
How did we decide it wasn't important? Was it quantitatively?
At first no, but also quite possibly yes.
Here's why.
At first no because it didn't matter how much of their action they were doing, it was decided that the quality of their action was just piddling because the action didn't lead to any result that was deemed important.
So they could have just walked in circles. They could have walked in circles for a hundred laps around the living room and still be just piddling because their action was defined by the quality of the result it produced, which yielded nothing of any great importance.
Therefore, we see that if the word is used in the way that people say, "oh, they're just piddling" it is correct by definition.
We just established that piddling can be used without regard to quantity or size and still be used correctly. That's why it was acceptable to say "at first no."
just because it can be used without regard to size or quantity, does that necessarily mean that it cannot be used with regard to size or quantity?
Let's see.
In the previous example, since the qualitative description of the action was based on the importance of the result produced by that action rather than the quantity, then it didn't matter if it was one circle or a thousand laps around the living room. The action was still "just piddling."
let's now consider a scenario where the same action is used but in the context of that action being considered significant to the parties discussing it.
How could this be? It's either always important or not, right?
Not always.
Consider scientific experiments where results produced by testing a sample of a population must yield a certain number of successes in order to be considered statistically significant. In this case, a hypothetical experiment tested how blood pressure and pulse was affected after a minimum of 1000 laps walked around the same living room area by a certain demographic of people in knoxville.
The difference in context is one of where the importance and thus emphasis is placed.
The qualitative description is now solely dependent on the quantity of laps unlike the first example where the importance didn't depend on the quantity of repetitions at all!
It means something different now and yet simultaneously means the same.
This time any number of laps greater than 1000 = statistically significant (important!)
and yet, any number of that same action (laps) less than 1000 = piddling!
In this sense piddling can be used to describe a size of a quantity of an action based on the significance of the results of that action when less than statistically significant.
So if sample a only ran 3 laps or 333, both of these measurements of the size of the number of times the action repeated can be described as "just piddling" in direct contrast to the size of sample a used as a measure of the quantity of laps at any number of repetitions equal to or greater than 1000 laps which would not be just piddling even though it is the exact same action.
Therefore, both the qualitative and quantitative definitions of piddling are proven correct.
Whether or not you got something of value from this (or just lost five minutes you won't get back) is entirely up to the importance you personally place on problem solving skills and their practical application in every day life.
When only used on fiddle faddle, it may be just piddling, but what if this same power is applied to solving problems that are of vastly greater importance? It is up to each of us how we choose to apply what we have learned now that we have been empowered with the model to do so.
Go vols!
piddling. merriam-webster.com, merriam-webster,
piddling | definition of piddling by merriam-webster. Accessed 16 july 2018.
