Reader question:

What does this sentence –The Governor really didn’t leave himself any wiggle room on the tax issue – and particularly “wiggle room” mean?

My comments:

It means he has no choice but to pay taxes.

Room, of course, means space, such as room for improvement.

Wiggle? Worms wiggle, making tiny little movements by twisting their bodies around, shaking and shifting.

Or have you ever seen an acrobat put into a tiny box to show off his or her nifty limbs? The box seems barely big enough to contain the acrobat but they are able to WIGGLE about making various improbable postures, demonstrating their “soft bones”, to use a kung-fu term.

Hence wiggle room means small space for maneuver, hence for flexibility and different options.

And this term is usually used in the negative, such as in the form of “no wiggle room” or “not any wiggle room”. It means no flexibility, no alternative, no other option or choice at all.

Here are recent media examples:

1. Gov. Bob Riley ordered further cutbacks in the state education budget Friday because of declining tax collections and has drawn the last $116 million out of the state’s rainy day fund to prevent deeper cuts.

The executive director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, Sally Howell, said local officials will struggle to find places to cut spending, partly because the Legislature already reduced money for textbooks and eliminated funds for classroom supplies, two areas that are often cut in tough economic times.

“It’s a hardship. There’s no way around it,” Howell said. “There’s no wiggle room. The areas that traditionally have always been cut have already been cut.”

- Riley orders further cuts in state education spending, Oanow.com, July 24, 2009.

2. A day after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin resigned, a federal official in her home state dismissed one potential explanation for her sudden and unexpected resignation: a rumored FBI investigation into the former Wasilla mayor on public corruption charges…

“There is absolutely no truth to those rumors that we're investigating her or getting ready to indict her,” Special Agent Eric Gonzalez said in a phone interview Saturday. “It’s just not true.” He added that there was “no wiggle room” in his comments for any kind of inquiry.

- Sarah Palin not under FBI investigation, agency spokesman says, Los Angeles Times, July 5, 2009.

3. A day after the Pittsburgh Pirates indicated they remained open to continuing contract talks with second baseman Freddy Sanchez and shortstop Jack Wilson, the double-play duo said they’d like to keep talking.

General manager Neal Huntington said Sunday he had halted negotiations because he thought neither player wanted to continue them. He said he had not received counteroffers from the players’ agents.

“I did not know that it was negotiable,” Sanchez told reporters before Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. “I was under the assumption that it was a take-it-or-leave-it deal and that there was going to be no wiggle room.”

“We thought it was more of a take-it-or-leave-it type of deal because of the situation of trying to get it done quickly,” Wilson told reporters. “At no point have either of us been interested in shutting this down. We both are very interested in being Pirates. I don't think this is dead by any means.”

Both players said there was a “miscommunication” between the sides.

- Sanchez, Wilson want to keep talking with Pirates, July 21, 2009.