bob English · revision 4123

+ Bob is a group of short, mostly colloquial words of obscure origin that have become entangled in form and sense;^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) the dictionaries separate at least the verb “to move up and down”, the noun “a cluster, a short haircut”, and the slang “shilling”.^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /bɒb/, US /bɑːb/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|move up and down}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=c. 1390}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bobben]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) perhaps the same word as Middle English bobben “to strike, beat”, before 1325,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) of a short, jerking or rebounding movement.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline connects it with bobben “to make a fool of, cheat”, perhaps from Old French bober “to mock”,^(Etymonline) and the American Heritage and Merriam-Webster think it probably ultimately imitative.^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “To move quickly up and down”: about 1390, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,^(Barnhart 1988) the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, a sudden jerk up and down, is from about 1550, the 1540s in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and a curtsy from the early 19th century.^(SOED 2002) ''Bobbing'' for apples or cherries, snatching with the mouth something hanging or floating, is recorded by 1799,^(Etymonline) and to ''bob and weave'', in boxing, by 1928.^(Etymonline) In bell-ringing a bob is a kind of change in long peals, from the late 17th century.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1390 – to move up and down.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1550 – noun, a jerk.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1799 – bobbing for apples.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1928 – ''bob and weave''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move up and down quickly or repeatedly: ''a cork bobbing on the water''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To try to seize floating or hanging objects with the teeth.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To [[curtsy]] or bow briefly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To tap or strike lightly.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A quick, jerky movement of the head or body.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A light tap or blow.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ {{homograph|2|cluster, short hair}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1390}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bobbe|t=bunch, cluster of leaves or flowers]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) a northern word of uncertain origin,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps Celtic, compare Irish baban “tassel, cluster” and Scottish Gaelic babag.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bunch or cluster, as of leaves or flowers: probably about 1390, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1340 in the OED, chiefly northern,^(OED 1989) the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Many of its later uses have in common the notion of a round, hanging mass:^(Etymonline) the weight on a fishing line (1610s), a pendulum (1752) or a plumb line (1832).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Others imply shortness:^(Cresswell 2021) a horse's docked tail (1570s), a knot or bunch of hair (1680s, 1688),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the [[bobtail]], [[bobcat]] (1888) and [[bobsled]] (1839).^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb “to cut short” is American, from 1822,^(Barnhart 1988) and “to cut a woman's hair short all round” from 1918,^(Barnhart 1988) when the fashion was seen as a sign of radicalism;^(Etymonline) the noun for the haircut is from 1920 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1926 in Galsworthy's The Silver Spoon according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) The ''bobby pin'' is from 1936.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1340 – a cluster.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1570s – a docked tail.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1610s – a weight on a line.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1688 – a knot of hair.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1822 – verb, to cut short.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1918 – to cut hair short.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1920 – a bobbed haircut.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A short haircut for a woman or child, with the hair cut evenly all round.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A small knob-like weight hanging from a line, such as a plumb bob.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A float for a fishing line.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A small lock or curl of hair.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A horse's docked tail.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A [[bobsled]], or one of its runners.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cut short, as hair or a tail.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To fish with a bob.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bobbed]]

+ * [[bobtail]]

+ * [[bobcat]]

+ * [[bobsled]]

+ * [[bobby pin]]

+

+ {{homograph|3|shilling}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1789}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown;^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Cresswell 2021) it does not seem to be related to the other bobs.^(Cresswell 2021) Merriam-Webster suggests the nickname Bob, for Robert.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A shilling, as British slang: 1789.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ After decimalization it was used for five new pence.^(SOED 2002) ''Bob-a-job'' was the former slogan of the Scout Association's fund-raising week.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1789 – a shilling.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(British slang)'' A [[shilling]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Bob's your uncle'', said when something is easily done, uses the pet form of Robert; the suggestion that it refers to Lord Salisbury appointing his nephew Arthur Balfour in 1887 is doubtful, since the first records are from the 1930s.^(Cresswell 2021) A further obsolete bob, “to make a fool of”, came from Old French bober.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}