Sounds like a cunning plan...

Wordsmith.org

with absolutely no turnip in sight!

It�s a word from a long time ago in Old English�
It can function as a noun, a conjunction, a preposition or a transitive verb�
It can mean �during�, but can also mean �on the other hand�, �in spite of�, �until�, �time & effort expended� and a clutch of other intertwined and conflicting senses�

Have you got the word yet? ~ one of those common ones that only when a friend stops you to query something do you start looking at the chasm beneath your feet�!

[edited] to add a slight extra clue

How much does it sound like a cunning plan?

OK, so there's your straight-line. Take it.

Well, not much like the plan part but!

and also not at all like cunning per se... :)

Man, mav! Solving your little problems always seems like trying to fill a bucket with mist.

Thanks for another pickle.
These puzzles of yours do not tickle
My funny bone.
So leave me alone
With thinking which isn't so fickle. ;

This is the 2nd turnip you've thrown at us in 24 hours, Maverick. My day is totally ruined. :)

I thought perhaps 'still'. It seems to meet most of your requirements, but I can't see that �time & effort expended� is covered by it.

> trying to fill a bucket with mist

A mist is as good as a smile. Thank you - that's a great compliment to a Nenglish would-be cruciverbalist :) Where's Bridget to help the decoding?

> My day is totally ruined

Consider it revenge for all the lamericks ;) But seriously, your expression here has a bearing on the italicised clue at the OP.

your expression here has a bearing on the italicised clue at the OP.

Are u talking about the expression on my face [all amuddle with your puzzle] or my expression on the page? And, if the page, which expression?

This puzzle gets more puzzling by the minute -- which is only a split second in time. Anon.

> only a split second

yeahbut what do you do with unsplit hours?

While the rest of these guys were fooling around with sorta rhymes, etc., some of us would choose to while away the time doing something else. All the while, so to speak.

what do you do with unsplit hours?

While them away? Am I getting any closer?

> All the while, so to speak.

I'm wild about your answer, TEd!

Main Entry: 1while
Pronunciation: 'hwI(&)l, 'wI(&)l
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hwIl; akin to Old High German hwIla time, Latin quies rest, quiet
1 : a period of time especially when short and marked by the occurrence of an action or a condition : TIME <stay here for a while>
2 : the time and effort used (as in the performance of an action) : TROUBLE <worth your while>

Main Entry: 2while
Function: conjunction
1 a : during the time that <take a nap while I'm out> b : as long as <while there's life there's hope>
2 a : when on the other hand : WHEREAS <easy for an expert, while it is dangerous for a novice> b : in spite of the fact that : ALTHOUGH <while respected, he is not liked>
3 : similarly and at the same time that <while the book will be welcomed by scholars, it will make an immediate appeal to the general reader -- British Book News>

Main Entry: 3while
Function: preposition
dialect British : UNTIL

Main Entry: 4while
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): whiled; whil�ing
: to cause to pass especially without boredom or in a pleasant manner -- usually used with away <while away the time>

Y'all can blame this on Bill,

who got me thinking about these forms of the word. He remarked on the contrast with my Brit usage of whilst, which I gather is not much used in the States.

edit:
from encarta:

[Old English hw�l �period of time.� Ultimately from an Indo-European word meaning �rest, period of rest,� which is also the ancestor of English tranquil and quiet.]

Y'all use while and whilst both, don't you? And, if so, what's the difference?

And, no, we don't much use whilst cept'n only whenst we're try and to be cute and/or quaint

I'm afraid my wily answer is I don't know how I differentiate - it's one of those parts of your own speech pattern that you can't hear and that disintegrates when you try to examine it. I'll give it some more thought tomorrow when my brain's less tired! Mebbe some of the others will have a clearer take on it whilst I am indisposed.

edit: I see my difficulty in discriminating is not without foundation!

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-whi2.htm