Woggle
Woggle
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Woggle

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Woggle

A woggle (or neckerchief slide) is a device to fasten the neckerchief, or scarf, worn as part of the Scout or Girl Guides uniform, originated by a Scout in the 1920s.

In form and function, a woggle is similar to the Tie ring, a formal piece of jewelry used to secure the bulk of a Necktie or an Ascot tie, popularized in the 1800s.

One story relating to the origin of the word 'woggle' is that it was named to rhyme with the word boon doggle used in America. However the term woggle pre-dates the first known reference to this in 1925. There are a few other references to the word woggle before its adoption by the Scout movement. It is thought that woggle was a verb, with similar meanings to waggle and wobble, in the 16th century. It was in limited use as a noun around 1900.

Another report is that William 'Bill' Shankley, while working at Gilwell Park with Scouting's founder, prior to 1922, called it a woggle, 'a name given to something without a name'.

The earliest known reference to a woggle is the June 1923 edition of British The Scout. The term was quickly applied to other designs of fastener, of many shapes and sizes, and is today used around the world.

The word ring was used in editions of the Scouting handbook Scouting for Boys until 1929 when Baden-Powell changed it in the 14th edition:

It [the scarf] may be fastened at the throat by a knot or woggle, which is some form of ring made of cord, metal or bone, or anything you like.

Early Scouts tied a knot in their neckerchief (scarf) to fasten it around the neck. In the United States, experiments were made with rings made from bone, rope or wood.

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