Waffle (speech)

The term waffle denotes language without meaning; blathering, babbling, droning. One might waffle throughout an essay or a presentation, when not having enough material or needing to fill in time. Etymologists say the term was derived from waff, a 17th-century onomatopoeia for the sound a barking dog makes, similar to the modern woof. Although the relationship between a dog's bark and indecisiveness is not entirely clear, the speculation is that the words of a waffler have no more meaning than a dog barking.

Waffling is used as a derogatory term to describe a candidate or politician who is said to easily switch sides on issues to curry political favor. A waffle was famously used to represent President Bill Clinton in the Doonesbury comic strip.

Waffling is also a term for sending prank emails from other people's email addresses. This was originally started in Toronto at MuchMusic (a Canadian cable TV station) by Justin Stockman. A producer had forgotten to log off a communal computer and Justin sent an email from this producer to on-air personality Rachel Perry (who worked at MuchMusic at the time) where that producer unknowingly invited Rachel out for breakfast to enjoy some "tasty waffles". People at MuchMusic began "Waffling" each other regularly, taking advantage of anyone who left their computer unattended. As staff, including Rachel, moved on to other companies and other cities, they brought Waffling with them and the prank spread. "Waffling" was referenced in a Globe & Mail article in 2002 as a workplace trend. Any email sent from someone else's account (pretending to be from that person) is called a Waffle, but the best Waffles always include some reference to waffles, pancakes or maple syrup.