The PR Blog

Can you believe it? Another weekend has rolled around. I was speaking with Redhead a while ago and we got to talking about Niggles, Giggles, Wiggles and Biggles. Not the ex Queensland Premier referred to as Giggles because of the supercilious grin he constantly had. Not the WW II legendary flying Ace Biggles James Bigglesworth, wartime air ace and peacetime Sergeant in the Special Air Police, known to his friends and some of his enemies as 'Biggles'. Not the Wiggles either. 

But mostly we talked about Niggles.

So, what exactly is a niggle? Picture a tiny stone in your shoe. It’s not big enough to really hurt, but it’s definitely annoying. Now imagine the stone is made of worry, or doubt, or maybe a creeping feeling of irritation. That’s what a niggle is.....a minor but persistent source of discomfort. It doesn’t exactly ruin your day, but it sure does like to hang around and poke you in the gut now and then.

And we talked about who would we swap places with?  Is there anyone who does not have a niggle or two these days? And, in truth, are our niggles that bad anyway? 

The origins of the word niggle take us back to the early 16th century. It likely stems from the Middle English nig or niggardly, meaning stingy or miserly. That root, in turn, may have Scandinavian influences. In other words, it started life as a word about being overly cautious with your resources. 

That pretty much sums it up. I get niggling pain and Redhead gets niggling pain.  Not enough to cripple us, but enough to make us wonder if life will ever be niggle free again. Many reading this will identify with what I am talking about.

Over time, the word evolved to describe the act of fussing over details, like a miser counting his pennies. By the 19th century, it had transformed into what we know today: the action of fretting over something or being persistently bothered by some irritation.

Australia famously created the Wiggles. I took my video of the Wiggles to South Korea when I went there to teach English and my students loved the Wiggles. That was before their rainbow coloured skivvies were taken over by wokeism. 

Boy, I think it is time for us to wake up, don't you? 

 But let me do what the politicians and media do so frequently these days and "  circle back. "  

You know that tiny, scratchy tag at the back of your shirt? The one that feels like it's made from the rough hide of a sandpaper lizard? It’s a classic niggle. It’s not quite bad enough to make you strip in the middle of the lounge, but it’s all you can think about until you grab the scissors and chop the bugger off. You picked the shortest line at the supermarket. Things are going great, and then - bam! - the person in front of you forgets their PIN number and they have to rummage through every bloody credit card to find one that works.  . There’s that familiar niggle: “Why didn’t I pick the other line? Now I’m stuck here for hours with a half-melted ice cream tub and I desperately need to go to the toilet..”

But these days, niggles have taken on a new level of meaning. It is no longer the annoying old codger in front of us in the supermarket or the scratchy shirt tag. It is the ever present niggle that things aren't right. 

There are the old, ordinary niggles. The newer ones have a different weight…

We get niggles from thinking about power bills. Food prices. Petrol and things like vet bills.  Niggles about protests in our streets, rising immigration, the high cost of health care, lack of housing, government incompetence, corruption, rising crime, laws that seek to stop us talking about niggles.... hell, if we can't talk about niggles, maybe we need Biggles to come back to sort things out? 

We have both tried laughing but giggles don't work, do they? At 71, I have found that giggling can be fraught with danger if one is not close to a loo and Biggles seems to have been banned from serving for not being gay enough or ready to convert to a faith that rather likes goats, bombs and camels. 

We tried to think about who these days was niggle free. Just one person, famous or family, friend or foe who is niggle free. And you know what? We could not think of one. Not one.

Donald Trump, for all his wealth is not niggle free. People are trying to kill him. So no, he does not pass the niggle test. Neither does any other rich person I came up with. 

We have family who are embroiled in marriage breakups, repercussions from the clot shots, problems with moving house or dealing with pets who are passing. 

Yet, we have people, here in Australia, who are off on paid leave because they felt offended or stressed at work. On full pay, to stay at home and feel niggled by mean co workers and nasty bosses. Apparently, a niggle is now a trauma. 

Hell, in my day, we just dealt with it by standing up for our rights or walking out. But fronting up with a lawyer and a film crew from the media never entered our minds. 

I once had a bloke I worked with who used to grab my bum from behind and I asked him to stop.One day, I had enough. I just walked up behind him and grabbed him between his legs and said " How does that feel? "  Our co-workers laughed. He never touched me again. Problem sorted. 

Try doing that today. 

So when does a niggle pass on to the realms of a full blown crisis? And how has it gotten to this stage? 

When we allow it to. 

Yes, we have health issues. Yes, we have family and friends who are dealing with major niggles in their lives. 

Strangely enough, I am still typing and haven't taken a day off because someone said something nasty. Maybe I am more Biggles than Niggles than I realised. And sometimes a giggle can lessen the load... 

I do find myself wishing I could still wiggle though.....    

Shaydee