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You are here: Home / Language / What Is the Difference Between Bickering and Dickering and What Do the Words Mean?

What Is the Difference Between Bickering and Dickering and What Do the Words Mean?

June 28, 2020 by Karen Hill

Even though they both involve a disagreement, there is a dramatic difference between bickering and dickering.

Bickering now means to quarrel, but the word began as bicken, Dutch for “an attack involving a misunderstanding by slashing or stabbing.”

Dickering came from the Roman habit of packaging units of ten hides for bartering or haggling with barbarians.

These packets were called decuria from decem, meaning “ten,” and gave English the word dicker.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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