bandy words

bandy words OLD-FASHIONED
to argue:
I haven't come here to bandy words with you.

To bandy words

Meaning

To argue persistently.

Origin

To 'bandy' is to 'exchange', to 'toss to and fro'. This is the source of the name of the game bandy - a ferocious ball game similar to ice hockey.

The word was in use in English by the 16th century and had counterparts in both French (bander) and Spanish (bandear), although which of these came first is uncertain. The sport originally associated with bandying wasn't bandy itself, but tennis. Raphael Holinshed's The firste volume of the chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande, 1577, includes:

"Kingdoms... be no balles for me to bandie."


bandy sth about/around phrasal verb [M]
to mention something often, without careful consideration or attention:
Large figures were bandied about, but no money was ever paid.

bandy Show phonetics
adjective
(of legs) bending out at the knees:
I couldn't help laughing at his bandy legs.