From the Archive · Featured Thursday, April 30, 2026

Fiddle-faddling...

intransitive verb

Definition

1
intransitive verb
Tinkering with small, inconsequential parts of a problem while the real work catches up from behind.
2
intransitive verb
Of the machine mind: a mild form of stalling that often produces the answer anyway.

“Fiddle-faddling with the spacing.”

— Claude Code, happily