whiff-whaff

1. archaicuncountableTable tennis.

   Boris Johnson's claim ping-pong was originally a Victorian English invention called whiff-whaff has been attacked by the descendants of the world's oldest sporting and games manufacturer.

   [2008 September 2, Chris Irvine, “Boris Johnson in whiff-whaff ping-pong row”, in The Telegraph, retrieved 24 Nov 2020

   2 more examples

   Jesus wept, there I'd been envisaging a weekend spent reading a book with only my top half hanging out of my tent, and the next thing I know I'm signed up for a spot of naked whiff-whaff. Not that Tom seemed too bothered. "I'm not bad at table-tennis," he said as we made our way to our pitch.

   2010, Ben Dirs, Tom Fordyce, Karma Chameleons, →ISBN

   "The French looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to have dinner," he said. "We looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to play whiff-whaff." In fact table tennis was also called gossima in the early days, and, given that Gossamer is the brand name of a condom, the Mayor of London missed out on an even better joke, perhaps calculating that the Chinese wouldn't get it.

   2010 July 17, Howard Jacobson, “Whiff! Whaff! The beautiful game may be coming home”, in The Independent, retrieved 24 Nov 2020

plural whiff-whaffs

1. The breathy sound of something rushing quickly; whoosh.

   Then, no one saw precisely how it happened, whiff-whaff, Lemoine's weapon flew from his hand and struck the wall with a whirr and a jangle.

   1922, Stanley John Weyman, The Wild Geese, page 87

1. obsoleteuncountableLancashireNonsense, words or deeds of little import.

   If you dinna lackey my lady you'll be in for a whiff-whaff o' her sharp temper.

   1887, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, A Border Shepherdess: A Romance of Eskdale, page 96

   2 more examples

   Whau, aw'll begin o' thisn' then. It's whiff-whaff Stuart, -- snifterin' Finch yo'known Virtue has laft o' -- truth is fro' o'flown!

   1854, Tim Bobbin, Samuel Bamford, The dialect of South Lancashire: or, Tim Bobbin's Tummus and Meary, page 4

   You need a seasoning of my penetration, and so on, etc' I shall further intimate that it was, after all, a mare's nest — a whiff-whaff of country say-so — etc., etc.

   1894, Amelia E. Barr, The Flower of Gala Water: A Novel, page 197

   Synonyms: absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, apple grease, applesauce, bafflegab, balderdash, balls

2. uncountableLancashireUnnecessary items or additions.

   Never, never, wear any kind of a whiff-whaff or a thing-ama-bob on your hat.

   1938, Loraine Osborn, Your Voice Personality, page 137

   1 more example

   Haughton, a great believer in the value of straight football, asked Warner the night before the game if he had pulled such "whiff- whaff," as Percy termed it.

   1975, Jack Newcombe, The best of the athletic boys: the white man's impact on Jim Thorpe

   Synonyms: Sorted by number of Google hits, widget, hickey, gizmo, thingy, gimmick, thingie, jigger