Meaning
What does Stickler mean?
Stickler is a slang term, used to describe someone as stubborn, insisting to unusual ceremonies, rituals and always making a problem at hand harder to solve.
Origin
What's the origin of Stickler?
“Stickler” comes from the Middle English word “strighten” meaning “to arrange, to place”.
The term started appearing in the 1500’s, in the sense of “mediator” referring to a person that was supervising and organizing.
Its archaic sense slowly transformed to its contemporary meaning in the 17th century, and by the 1640’s it was already recorded as referring to a person that is hard to persuade on any subject.
Spread & Usage
How did Stickler spread?
Over the following centuries, “Stickler” spread widely across the anglosphere, although it enjoys a wider popularity in Britain, than in America.
Today, the term is not nearly as popular as it was in the 19th century, when it appeared in magazines, publications, plays and poems, however the various uses on the internet balance this out.
“Stickler” was first defined on Urban Dictionary on July 12th, 2003, with several other entries to follow in the following years.