Literary notes about piddling (AI summary)
In literature, "piddling" is often employed to convey insignificance and triviality. Authors use it to describe matters, actions, or characters as negligible—whether referring to official procedures that amount to unworthy distractions [1] or comparing the vastness of the cosmos to mere trifles [2]. Sometimes the term appears as a label for bureaucratic ineptitude or an idle, unproductive effort, as when a minor official is dismissed for his undue attention to detail [3] or when one is accused of endlessly "piddling around" rather than undertaking serious work [4, 5]. This versatility highlights the word’s role in sharply demarcating the unimportant or inconsequential within diverse contexts.
- It put [227] a stop to official piddling in the conduct of the armies and the plan of campaigns.
— from A Rebel's Recollections by George Cary Eggleston - Why, this sun and these worlds are piddling trifles.
— from Hunters Out of Space by Joseph Everidge Kelleam - Pope calls him "piddling" because of his scrupulous attention to details.
— from The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems by Alexander Pope - I'm through letting dad pay me for piddling around here.
— from Class of '29 by Orrie Lashin - I come to town and stayed about two weeks, piddling around to git along.
— from Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves South Carolina Narratives, Part 1 by United States. Work Projects Administration
