argie bargie

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableinformalBritish

   Noisy, petty arguing or a heated quarrel, often over something unimportant.

   Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun: there was argie bargie. Not used with 'a' or in the plural.

   Patterns

   • there was argie bargie
   • have argie bargie with someone
   • argie bargie over something

   There was a lot of argie bargie in the meeting about who should pay for the coffee.

   The neighbors had some argie bargie over the parking space again.

   After all the argie bargie, they finally agreed to share the bill.

2. 2nounsingularinformalBritish

   A noisy argument or dispute, especially one that is public or embarrassing.

   Grammar: Often used with 'a' to mean a single noisy argument: a right argie bargie.

   Patterns

   • a right argie bargie
   • cause an argie bargie
   • get into an argie bargie

   They had a right argie bargie in the middle of the street.

   The argument turned into a proper argie bargie with shouting and finger-pointing.

   Don't get into an argie bargie with him; he never backs down.

Common combinations

a lot of argie bargie

There was a lot of argie bargie before they settled the matter.

have argie bargie

They had argie bargie over who left the lights on.

argie bargie over

The argie bargie over the budget lasted all afternoon.

a right argie bargie

She got into a right argie bargie with the taxi driver.

Synonyms and how they differ

squabble

A squabble is a petty, noisy quarrel, often among children; argie bargie is similar but more informal and British.

bickering

Bickering means continuous, petty arguing; argie bargie suggests a noisier, more heated single dispute.

row

A row is a British informal word for a noisy argument; argie bargie is even more colloquial and often implies triviality.

Opposites

Commonly confused: argie bargie or argy-bargy?

Practice

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