Showing posts with label whittle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whittle. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

whittle, wittol

Whittle or whittle means to cut small pieces from a stick with a knife, usually to make a shape of some kind --
He won't do anything but sit on the porch and whittle; I don't know what's wrong with him.
He's trying to whittle a bird, but it doesn't look like much yet.

Whittle may also be used figuratively, to means chipping or paring away at a task or problem --
You will get a lot done if you whittle away at the job, a few minutes each day.

Wittol or wittol ( rhymes with whittle ) means a husband of an unfaithful wife, one who knows about and  puts up with his wife's infidelity --
They called him a wittol behind his back, but spoke politely to his face.
The old wittol doesn't care what his wife does, as long as she doesn't make a show of it.

Now that you know that, you can say --
"He's become an old wittol, who only wants to sit in the sun and whittle."