Whim Was Shortened From Whim-Wham
A whim is a sudden fancy. The word was cut from a playful reduplication.
A whim is a sudden desire or change of mind with no clear reason. The word is shortened from *whim-wham*, a seventeenth-century term for a trifle or fanciful object, which is one of English's many rhyming reduplications — *knick-knack*, *zigzag*, *flip-flop*, *dilly-dally*. These pairs almost always put the higher vowel first, which is why *whim-wham* is possible and *wham-whim* is not. The related *whimsy* and *whimsical* kept the sense of light unpredictability.
- A sudden fancy. *On a whim.*
- Whimsy. *Pure whimsy.*
- Whimsical. *A whimsical decision.*
- Whim-wham — the source. *A whim-wham.*
- Seventeenth century. *The origin.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | whim | A whim. |
| Plural | whims | Whims. |
| Noun | whimsy | Whimsy. |
| Adjective | whimsical | Whimsical. |
| Source | whim-wham | A whim-wham. |
- He bought it on a whim.Impulse.
- Whim-wham came first.Etymology.
- A whimsical design.Adjective.
Why it is never wham-whim
- Rhyming and ablaut pairs follow a fixed vowel order
- The high vowel comes first: i, then a, then o
- Zigzag, flip-flop, tick-tock, ding-dong, criss-cross
- No native speaker says zagzig or tock-tick
- The rule is never taught yet never broken
Shortened from *whim-wham*, a fanciful trifle, of unknown earlier origin.
What was a whim-wham?
A trifle or fanciful object, a seventeenth-century word from which whim was shortened.
Why do these pairs always run in the same order?
English puts the higher vowel first in such pairs, which is why we say zigzag and never zagzig.