- “For a while I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I was just kinda waffling around seeing what I liked. But that’s what the third and fourth year of med school are for and you’ll figure it out.”
waffling
verb
switching back and forth in an indecisive manner; unable to make a decision but less intense than “fickle”. From the 1690s, "to yelp, bark," frequentative of waff "to yelp" (1610); possibly of imitative origin. Figurative sense of "talk foolishly" (1701) led to that of "vacillate, equivocate" (1803), originally a Scottish and northern English usage. Related: Waffled; waffling. This term was either narrowed to the specific definition meaning “vascillate” in opinion or choice or a product of creative formation.
Etymology : From the 1690s, "to yelp, bark," frequentative of waff "to yelp" (1610); possibly of imitative origin. Figurative sense of "talk foolishly" (1701) led to that of "vacillate, equivocate" (1803), originally a Scottish and northern English usage. Related: Waffled; waffling. This term was either narrowed to the specific definition meaning “vascillate” in opinion or choice or a product of creative formation.
Source : October 2013 - Lecture
Last modified: 26 November 2013