whinge

I'm forever instructing my kids to quit whinging, to the bemusement of most bystanders.

I learned it in Australia. It's still weird to me, and Americans will wonder what you're saying unless you leave out the G and say "whine."

Some Americans are. I've heard and read it here.

I didn't realise Americans weren't familiar with this.

thanks, qroqqa, for the explanation. I am going to do my best to see that the word makes it to the other branches of English (e.g. American, Euro-English).

From an Old English hwinsian, which is the base of 'whine' with an -s- suffix (also seen in 'cleanse' and 'bless'). The change to -g- /dʒ/ is a Scottish and Northern development in Middle English.

Going by the OED quotations, it remained a Scottish, Irish, and Northern variant into the twentieth century, and was taken back into Southern English via the familiar Australian use.

I just came across this word in a comment to an article on the Guardian website about anti-Chinese protests. The commenter, who goes by the cool name TheEarlofSuave, observes: "If you want to be a leader in the world, then you have to take criticism without whinging."

Like sionnach, I too thought this was a portmanteau word. I'm putting it on my fibrous words list because it so vividly evokes that particular combination of self-pity, hurt, defensiveness, and tediousness charisteristic of whingers.

not a hybrid word! Shares Old English and Old Norse roots with whine, that's all.

moan and whine