quagmire

English

WOTD – 7 June 2016

A quagmire orswampinLouisiana,United States

Etymology

Recorded since 1579, fromquag+‎mire.The sense “perilous, mixed up and troubled situation” has been recorded since 1775.

Alternatively, the word may apparently be a variation of the earlierquakemire,fromquake+mire.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key):/ˈkwæɡ.maɪə(ɹ)/,/ˈkwɒɡ.maɪə(ɹ)/
• (General American,Canada)IPA^(key):/ˈkwæɡ.maɪɹ/
• (General Australian)IPA^(key):/ˈkwæɡ.mɑɪə(ɹ)/,/ˈkwɔɡ.mɑɪə(ɹ)/

  • Audio(General Australian):

    (file)

• Hyphenation:quag‧mire

Noun

quagmire(pluralquagmires)

1. Aswampy,soggyarea ofground.

   Synonyms:marsh,marshland,mire,quag

   Thatquagmireregularly ‘swallows’ caught-up hikers’ boots

   • 1886October –1887January,H[enry] Rider Haggard,She: A History of Adventure,London:Longmans, Green, and Co.,published1887,→OCLC:

     Never did I see a more dreary and depressing scene. Miles on miles ofquagmire,varied only by bright green strips of comparatively solid ground, and by deep and sullen pools fringed with tall rushes, in which the bitterns boomed and the frogs croaked incessantly: miles on miles of it without a break, unless the fever fog can be called a break.

2. (figuratively)Aperilous,mixed upandtroubledsituation; a hopelesstangle.

   Synonyms:predicament;see alsoThesaurus:difficult situation

   The paperwork got lost in aquagmireof bureaucracy.

   Those election results are aquagmirefor any coalition except one of national union.

   • 1834,L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon],chapter I, inFrancesca Carrara.[…],volume I, London:Richard Bentley,[…],(successor toHenry Colburn),→OCLC,pages168-169:

     "And what was this, my beloved brother, but a vain yielding to unbridled imagination, which, like a spring confined to one spot, collects its pure clear waters, and in at once a beauty and a blessing; but which, allowed to spread abroad in every direction, oozes through the marshy earth, becomes stagnant, and is habited by the loathsome reptile. That which would have been a green haunt, with its fair fountain, is a dreary and uselessquagmire.Is it not thus with the mind, Guido? "

   • 2019May 5, Danette Chavez, “Campaigns are Waged On and Off theGame Of ThronesBattlefield (Newbies)”, inThe A.V. Club‎^[1],archived fromthe originalon28 January 2021:

     I’ve had my doubts about Daenerys’ ability to rule, inspired in part by thequagmirein Meereen. Still, this feels like a precipitous decline. The queen of sobriquets has always been power hungry.

   • 2021November 24, Stephen Marche, “The Algorithm That Could Take Us Inside Shakespeare’s Mind”, inThe New York Times‎^[2],→ISSN:

     The only way to know Shakespeare is through his works, and his works are textualquagmires.

Translations

swampy ground

• Bashkir:һаҙ(haź)
• Belarusian:бало́таn(balóta),дры́гваf(drýhva),ба́гна(be)n(báhna)
• Bulgarian:треса́вище(bg)n(tresávište),мочур(bg)m(močur)
• Catalan:pantà(ca)m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Đầm lầy／Đầm lầy(zh)(zhǎozé)

• Czech:bažina(cs)f,močál(cs)m,třasoviskon
• Danish:sump(da)c,dyndn
• Dutch:(land)moeras(nl)n
• Finnish:hete(fi),hetteikkö,jorpakko(fi)
• French:bourbier(fr)m,marais(fr)m,marécage(fr)m
• Galician:groto(gl)m,aluteirom,lamazal(gl)m,tremoeirom,chagorzaf,toleiro(gl)m,sapalem,foronchom,bulleiro(gl)m
• Georgian:ჭაობი(č̣aobi),ჭანჭრობი(č̣anč̣robi)
• German:Sumpf(de)m,Morast(de)m,Morastbodenm,Sumpfboden(de)m
• Greek:βάλτος(el)m(váltos)
• Hindi:दलदल(hi)m(daldal)
• Irish:bogachm
• Italian:pantano(it)m
• Japanese:Lầy lội(ja)(ぬかるみ,nukarumi)(colloquial),Chiểu mà(ja)(ぬまち, numachi)(type of a land),Ướt mà(ja)(しっち, shitchi),Vũng bùn(ja)(doronuma)
• Khmer:ភក់ជ្រៅ(pʰʊək crɨv)
• Maori:powharu,wharu,oru,poharu
• Norwegian:myrf,sump(no)n,sump(no)n
• Old Church Slavonic:блатоn(blato)
• Old East Slavic:болотоn(boloto)
• Ottoman Turkish:باتاق(batak),خلاش(hılaş)
• Persian:باتلاق(phát)(bâtlâq),خلاب(phát)(xalâb)
• Polish:bagno(pl)n,trzęsawisko(pl)n,bagno(pl)n,błoto(pl)n
• Portuguese:pântano(pt)m,charco(pt)m,brejo(pt)m,paul(pt)m
• Romanian:mlaștină(ro)f
• Russian:боло́то(ru)n(bolóto),топь(ru)f(topʹ),тряси́на(ru)f(trjasína)
• Scots:champ
• Scottish Gaelic:boglachf
• Serbo-Croatian:močvara(sh)f

  Cyrillic:бла̏тоn

  Roman:blȁto(sh)n

• Slovak:močiarm
• Spanish:pantano(es)m,ciénaga(es)f,tremedal(es)m,cenagal(es)m,barrizalm,lamedal(es)m
• Swedish:gungfly(sv),moras(sv),sumpmark(sv)
• Ukrainian:трясови́наf(trjasovýna),боло́то(uk)n(bolóto)
• Urdu:دلدلm(daldal)
• Walloon:bourbîm,wachisse(wa)m,maraexhe(wa)morf

perilous, mixed up and troubled situation

• Bulgarian:затруднено положение(zatrudneno položenie)
• Czech:šlamastyka(cs)f
• Danish:dyndn,hængedyndn
• Dutch:moeras(nl)n,drijfzand(nl)n
• Finnish:suo(fi),syöveritpl,kiipeli(fi)
• French:bourbier(fr)m
• German:Zwickmühle(de)f
• Greek:τέλμα(el)n(télma)
• Italian:ginepraio(it)m
• Japanese:Cảnh khổ(ja)(kukyō),Nghèo mà(ja)(kyūchi),Vũng bùn(ja)(doronuma)
• Norwegian:hengemyrf,kvikksandf
• Polish:bagno(pl)n,błoto(pl)n
• Portuguese:confusão(pt)f
• Russian:тряси́на(ru)f(trjasína),боло́то(ru)n(bolóto)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman:živi pijesak

• Spanish:dilema(es)m,apuro(es)m,tembladeral(es)m
• Swedish:träsk(sv)
• Ukrainian:закови́каf(zakovýka)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua:^{(pleaseverify)}palude,^{(pleaseverify)}fangositate
• Korean:^{(pleaseverify)}곤경(ko)(gon'gyeong)
• Mandarin:^{(pleaseverify)}Vũng bùn(zh)(ní zhǎo)
• Volapük:^{(pleaseverify)}maräd(vo),^{(pleaseverify)}lulak(vo)

Verb

quagmire(third-person singular simple presentquagmires,present participlequagmiring,simple past and past participlequagmired)

1. (transitive)Toembroil(a person, etc.) in complexity or difficulty.

References

• “quagmire”,inOneLook Dictionary Search..