Diddling

Über

Diddling Considered as One of the Exact Sciences (1843) is a very droll piece by Edgar Allan Poe. The use of the jocular term "diddling" makes it clear from the title that it will be a facetious essay, intended to amuse. Up until comparatively recently the word "diddling" was commonly used as a slang wry term for a swindler, employing a confidence trick, so the indignant victim might say, "He diddled me out of five pounds!" Unfortunately though it now also has a very earthy, some may say obscene, urban meaning, which means that a modern audience has to take the norms of Poe's time on board even more than usual.