My kitchen faucet has developed a slow drip.  It’s annoying, but interesting to watch.  First a small globule starts to form — a cute little sphere, which slowly reforms into a bottom heavy bead, which then separates to fall into the sink.  Nothing to worry about yet, as each drop drips about every ten seconds, or about 6 drips a minute; but that extends to 360 drops an hour, and a frightening 8,640 drops a day.  Should I be worried? 

How much water is in a drop — or is it a drip?  According to standard measures, a drop equals 0.05 milliliters, so 20 drops become 1.0 milliliters (thecalculatorsite.com) — a pretty small amount.  To put things in perspective, one 8 ounce cup equals 236.59 milliliters, and 8,640 drops equal 432 milliliters daily (thecalculatorsite.com), so at my present drip-drop rate, I lose about 1.8 cups of water a day — less expensive than a plumber.      

 What does one call the little globule hanging down from a water faucet?  Lets consult some dictionary definitions:

— Drop: 1. A small quantity of fluid that falls. 2. Quantity contained in a globule or bead that forms or falls. (dictionary.com)

— Drip: 1. An act of dripping. 2. liquid that drops. 3. Sound made by falling drops. (dictionary.com) 

Hmmm!  It seems that both a drop or a drip refers to a quantity of fluid or liquid that falls, so which is it?   Does a drop drip, or does a drip drop?  We need to examine the dictionary a little further.

— Droplet: A little drip. (dictionary.com)

— Driplet: 1. A droplet that is dripping. 2. A cute droplet. (Urban dictionary.com) 

— Driblet: A drop of liquid (merriun-websterdictionary.com)

— Dribble: A thin stream of liquid; a trickle. (dictionary.com) 

Accordingly, we have identified several descriptive words to describe a quantity of liquid contained in a globule or bead.  When I watch the spherical globule form, it looks a little cute, so at that point I could reliably call it a driplet (a cute droplet) or a droplet (a little drip) — neither is a drop nor a drip yet.  As it grows in volume, however, it definitely becomes a larger geometric shape and takes on the character of a drop or a drip, which in turn, become a driblet (a droplet that’s dripping)  To be sure, as the time between driblets shorten, a potential dribble becomes a concern.  The only thing we know for sure: when that globule becomes a dribble, one better call the plumber.

After rereading the above, I must conclude that this drop, droplet, drip, driplet, driblet, dribble discussion amounts to little more than drivel.

— Drivel: Nonsense (dictionary.com)