{"id":14895,"date":"2021-09-14T20:50:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-14T20:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/?p=14895"},"modified":"2022-09-18T14:51:34","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T14:51:34","slug":"drippy-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/drippy-drop\/","title":{"rendered":"Drippy Drop \u2014 Meaning, Context & Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you come across the expression “drippy drop” in a text and aren’t sure what it means? <\/span><\/p>\n

“Drippy drop” is an example of a literary device known as <\/span>onomatopoeia<\/a><\/strong>. Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. <\/span><\/p>\n

This means that the word “drip” actually sounds like the thing it describes, namely a falling drop of water. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are innumerable examples of onomatopoeia in modern English, <\/span>including<\/a><\/strong> words like “boom,” “bang,” and “crash,” all of which sound like what the thing they mean. <\/span><\/p>\n

The literal meaning of “drip,” or “drippy” has been transformed into myriad other expressions in English. <\/span><\/p>\n

This article will briefly talk you through the different ways “drip” and “drop” are commonly used.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the meaning of the expression drippy drop?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Drippy drop” is a playful way to describe falling water. “Drip” is the basis for numerous expressions in English. When used as a verb, “drip” means “to let fall or be so wet as to shed small drops of liquid.” When used as a noun, “drip,” like “drop,” means “a small amount of tear-shaped or round liquid.”<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Drip vs. drop when talking about water<\/strong><\/h3>\n

“Drippy drop” is often also often said simply as “drip drop.” This is a description of how water sounds falling from a tap and is often used in a rhyme-like, sing-song way when talking to young children. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, because drip and drop can have essentially the same meaning, many people wonder what the most appropriate way to describe a very small amount of falling water is. <\/span><\/p>\n

We regularly say, “rain drop” and would not say “rain drip.” Yet we say that we are “dripping wet,” not “dropping wet,” and that a tap is “dripping,” not “dropping.” <\/span><\/p>\n

As a general rule of thumb, you should use “drop” when describing “a small round or pear-shaped portion of liquid that hangs or falls or adheres to a surface.” <\/span><\/p>\n

You should use “drip” when referring to drops of water that are actively falling. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, when describing the sound that dripping drops of water make falling, you can use “drippy drop,” or “drip drop.” <\/span><\/p>\n

If a tap is dripping, this means it is not fully turned off, or is broken, and is literally regularly releasing a small amount of water in drops. The sound these drops make when falling, sounds like the sound of the word “drip.” <\/span><\/p>\n

If water or another liquid is falling in drops, it means the strength of the stream is very weak. <\/span><\/p>\n

You might use these words and expressions in sentences the following ways. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Can you hear the drippy drop of the tap downstairs?” <\/span><\/p>\n

“The leak in the roof is dripping.” <\/span><\/p>\n

“There are drops of water all over the floor.” <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A drip as an insipid person<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A drip can also be used as a noun, to mean an inane, uninteresting, and unintelligent person. <\/span><\/p>\n

Like a falling drop of water that has no active energy or independent sense of direction, a person who is a drip lacks enthusiasm, energy, wit, and passion. <\/span><\/p>\n

You might use this is conversation in one of the following ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Dave is such a drip. He brings no energy to the room, never has any new ideas to contribute, and doesn’t seem passionate about the project at all.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Oh, don’t pay any attention to her, she is such a drip and has no sense of humor.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Drip feed<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Another popular expression in English, is “drip feeding information.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The term “drip feed” can be used as a noun or a verb. When used as a noun, a drip feed has <\/span>not one but two<\/a><\/strong> meanings. <\/span><\/p>\n

The first is a device used by mechanics to introduce oil into a car’s engine drip by drip. The second is a medicinal drip, such as is used to provide patients with liquid food, saline, or medication. <\/span><\/p>\n

When used as a verb, to “drip feed” someone is to administer blood, plasma, saline, or sugar solutions intravenously, a small amount at a time. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, most interestingly, “to drip feed information” is an expression that means to consistently provide someone with small amounts of information. <\/span><\/p>\n

The expression is often used to describe the way in which information is passed to newspapers from a secret or known source. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is also sometimes used to describe how a government is releasing information about a particular subject to the public. <\/span><\/p>\n

It might also be used to describe the way in which someone in a personal context is giving a friend or acquaintance information about a private matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is usually said in a tone of frustration and implies that there is a ready reservoir of information available, but that this is being withheld. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are a variety of possible motivations for drip-feeding someone information. <\/span><\/p>\n

One possible reason is that the person with the information would like to keep someone else’s interest over a prolonged period of time. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, a musical artist might drip feed their fans information about an album they are going to release soon, in order to build excitement and maintain interest. <\/span><\/p>\n

Alternatively, a government might drip feed the public information about an unpopular policy proposal, so that they become used to different aspects of the idea before it becomes a reality. <\/span><\/p>\n

In any case<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, drip-feeding information instead of coming right out and saying what there is to say, does not have a great rap. <\/span><\/p>\n

The three examples given above might be expressed in the following manner. <\/span><\/p>\n

“The popular recording artist Maria Neal has been drip-feeding her fans clues about her upcoming album through her Instagram for weeks.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I feel like the government has been drip-feeding us details about the new tax scheme for months, without actually giving us a clear picture of what they are proposing.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I feel like Martina is not being very forthcoming about what happened at the party, <\/span>considering<\/a><\/strong> that she clearly knows what was said. It is <\/span>as if<\/span><\/a> she is drip feeding me information.” <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Drip” or “drippy” in rap lyrics<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In rap lyrics, “drip” means expensive jewelry and clothing. Someone who wears a lot of diamonds or designer clothes has a lot of “<\/span>swag<\/a><\/strong>,” or, alternatively, a lot of “drip”. <\/span><\/p>\n

To describe someone wearing expensive-looking clothes, you would say they are “looking drippy” or “drippin’.” <\/span><\/p>\n

To say that something is cool, you could also describe it as “drippy.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you come across the expression “drippy drop” in a text and aren’t sure what it means?  “Drippy drop” is an example of a literary device known as onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named.  This means that the word “drip” actually sounds like the thing …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable-in-feed":false,"article-schema-type":"Article","disable-critical-css":false,"_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,1117],"tags":[787,788,789],"class_list":["post-14895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-vocabulary","tag-drip","tag-drip-meaning","tag-drippy-drop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14895"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14899,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14895\/revisions\/14899"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}