Pettifog

Word of the Day for Tuesday, February 28, 2012 pettifog \PET-ee-fog\, verb: 1. To bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters. 2. To carry on a petty, shifty, or unethical law business. 3. To practice chicanery of any sort. Marius, my boy, you are a baron, you are rich, don't pettifog, I beg of you. -- Victor Hugo, Les Misérables Naturally, the wonderful tubers Brillat-Savarin dug up and dished out lacked the penultimate refinements of washing and cooking, but it would've been gauche to pettifog. -- Elizabeth Gundy, The Disappearance of Gregory Pluckrose Pettifog comes from the Middle Dutch word voeger meaning one who arranges things and the word petty meaning insignificant. Thanks to: http://www.dictionary.com/