Bob
A recurrent theme that
both amuses and confuses listeners to Words
to the Wise is the existence of multiple meanings for words. Often, words
spelled precisely the same in our day have totally different etymologies,
accounting for some wildly diverse definitions attached to what appears to be
the same word.
Mike from Traverse City,
Michigan, contributed another one last week when he commented on the word bob.
That three-letter combination tracks back to many differerent sources and
languages: Irish, Scottish, Old French, Middle English, an abbreviation for
Robert, and onomatopoeia representing the sound of a blow or a repetitive
action. Let’s just luxuriate in the following multiple meanings.
·
a cluster of
flowers
·
the weight
at the end of a pendulum or plumb line
·
a short sleigh-runner
·
earrings
·
a knot of
hair at the back of the head
·
a horse’s
tail docked short
·
a woman’s
hair style—short and even all around
·
the weight
on the tail of a kite
·
lob worms
connected together like a small mop to catch eels
·
a lump of
clay used by potters
·
the larva of
a beetle
·
the refrain
of a song
·
a trick or
deception
·
a blow with
the fist
·
a sharp
rebuke
·
a sudden
jerking up and down
·
a curtsy
·
a
bell-ringing style
·
an apparatus
for polishing metal surfaces
·
a shilling
·
a
euphemistic substitute for the word God
·
to deceive
or mock
·
to strike
with the fist
·
to move up
and down buoyantly in water
·
to snatch
with the mouth at floating apples
·
to move
evasively
·
to fish for
eels
·
to cut short
a horse’s tail
·
to cut a
woman’s hair short and even all around
·
to polish
metal with a bob
·
to ride on a
sleigh
Listen to Mike’s program in real
time every Tuesday morning, 9:10 - 10:00 a.m. EST, by going to wtcmradio.com
and clicking on Listen Now. You’ll
also find about two year’s worth of podcasts there under The Ron Jolly Show.
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