quagmire English · revision 1309

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkwæɡ.maɪə(ɹ)/, /ˈkwɒɡ.maɪə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkwæɡ.maɪɹ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed from obsolete ''quag'' “bog, marsh”^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) and [[mire]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Barnhart traces ''quag'' to earlier ''quabbe'' “marsh”, from an unrecorded Old English ''*cwabba''.^(Barnhart 1995) Early variants include ''quamyre'', ''quabmire'' and ''quavemire''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Soft, wet, boggy ground that gives under the foot (1579–80).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense of a situation that is hard to get out of is recorded by 1766 in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and from 1775 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) Etymonline notes that it seems to have been little used in the 19th century and was revived in American English in 1965 for stalled military actions, especially the war in Vietnam, popularized by David Halberstam's book ''The Making of a Quagmire''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1520s – ''quavemire''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1579–80 – a bog.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1635 – anything soft or flabby.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1775 – a difficult situation.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1965 – a stalled military conflict.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A difficult or dangerous situation that is hard to get out of; a [[predicament]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Soft, muddy ground that gives way underfoot; a [[bog]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quagmiry]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quag]]

+ * [[mire]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House gives ''predicament'', ''dilemma'', ''quandary'', ''scrape'' and ''jam'' as synonyms of the figurative sense.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}