To pootle or to poodle, that is the question. It’s been an ongoing debate between my partner and myself for some time now, whose family used to go for a poodle in the car at the weekend. My family, however, went for a pootle, definitely not a poodle.

I finally decided to settle this friendly feud and looked it up. What I discovered is that pootle is a variant of poodle, although, of course, poodle also refers to a breed of dog. To pootle, or poodle, means to travel or go around in a relaxed manner, as in, “I think I’ll have a pootle round the shops”.

Debate settled, now we’ll have to find another word to disagree on.

Do you poodle or pootle, or do you have an entirely different word for a leisurely stroll or run out in the car?