- faff
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[faff 词源字典] - "Spend time in ineffectual activity", Late 18th century (originally dialect in the sense 'blow in puffs', describing the wind): imitative. The current sense may have been influenced by dialect faffle 'stammer, stutter', later 'flap in the wind', which came to mean 'fuss, dither' at about the same time as faff (late 19th century).
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Originally a dialect word for ‘blow in puffs or small gusts’, faff was describing the wind, imitating the sound. The current sense may have been influenced by dialect faffle initially meaning ‘stammer, stutter’, later ‘flap in the wind’, which came to mean ‘fuss or dither’ at about the same time as faff in the late 19th century.[faff etymology, faff origin, 英语词源]