Spelling [wippen vs. whippen]

[Bradley M. Snook]

Alan, you have it backwards: wippen is an older spelling of whippen. The
earliest uses of wippen come through middle low German and Dutch to convey a
sense of 'moving up and down or to and fro.' From wippen, we also get the
term whip, which is respelled with wh- for some symbolic reason; it is
because of this that we see the respelled version of whippen in use today.

Since both versions are wide used, then both version can be considered
acceptable. However, it would be nice if we could adopt then original
spelling, especially since wippen conveys a much clearer picture of the
intended meaning.

Bradley M. Snook