Literary notes about twiddle (AI summary)
In literature, “twiddle” is often used to signify an idle or fidgety gesture that reveals a character’s state of mind. Thackeray, for instance, employs it to illustrate a habitual, almost unconscious movement as his character nervously adjusts his hair and hat [1]. In other works, characters twiddle their thumbs or fingers to symbolize boredom, hesitation, or even strategic inaction, as when a soldier contemplates his next move or someone reflects on their circumstances [2][3]. Sometimes the term carries a playful rhythm, lending a musical quality to nursery rhymes or whimsical bursts of dialogue [4][5]. Overall, the word serves as a subtle narrative tool that blends physical tics with psychological nuance, emphasizing both the trivial and the profound in a character’s behavior [6][7].
- Such is the force of habit, that even in the midst of his terror he began mechanically to twiddle with his hair, and arrange the cock of his hat.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - "Well, I know, to lie on my back with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs, would to me be the hardest work of all," said Franz.
— from The Year Nine: A Tale of the Tyrol by Anne Manning - For recreation he could twiddle his thumbs and speculate on the thoughts which must agitate the minds of the generals.
— from The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War by Stephen Crane - [106] H ICKERY, dickery, 6 and 7, Alabone, crackabone, 10 and 11; Spin, spun, muskidem, Twiddle 'em, twaddle 'em, 21.
— from The Little Mother Goose - 30 Hickery, dickery, 6 and 7, Alabone Crackabone, 10 and 11, Spin, span, muskidan; Twiddle 'um, twaddle 'um, 21.
— from Children's LiteratureA Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes by Charles Madison Curry - "We don't know anything about it, but that is no reason why we should sit back and twiddle our thumbs and start at shadows."
— from The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge; or, the Hermit of Moonlight Falls by Laura Lee Hope - "You don't imagine I intend to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs, while you take the whole burden on your little shoulders—do you?"
— from Materfamilias by Ada Cambridge
