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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010Hiaasen: cob
Hello: Which meaning of "cob" is considered here? ---- [The ocean's rough tonight] "You hear all that noise?" "Sure do," Chaz said. "Rough as a cob out there. It's gotta be blowin' thirty knots." "You be careful." Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. ---- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu >Hello: > >Which meaning of "cob" is considered here? <heads for the OED looking through 11 articles for "cob, n."> Maybe this one: cob, n.11 slang. Phr. to have, get a cob on, to be annoyed, to become angry. 1937 PARTRIDGE Dict. Slang 163/2 Have a cob on, to be annoyed: ships' stewards'. 1953 ‘R. GORDON’ Doctor at Sea ix. 113 ‘Don't you blokes go without me,’ he added threateningly. ‘I'll get a cob on if you don't wait.’ 1966 F. SHAW et al. Lern Yerself Scouse 22 Yer gorra cob on, you are in a bad mood. >---- >[The ocean's rough tonight] [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >Carl Hiaasen, Skinny Dip, p. >---- There is a standard phrase "angry sea". A "cob" might be Hiassen's synonym for a "state of anger".  SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >> Hello: >> [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > There is a standard phrase "angry sea". A "cob" might be Hiassen's > synonym for a "state of anger". "rough as a cob" seems to be Southern US slang for "dead rough" in a literal sense and hence any other sense you wish. There are various sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe one's bottom, but that's as may be. SignatureDavid >>> Hello: >>> [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe > one's bottom, but that's as may be. Just a bit of a note. Rich farmers used the husks. The rest really _did_ use the corn cob. >>>> Hello: >>>> [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > Just a bit of a note. Rich farmers used the husks. The rest really > _did_ use the corn cob. Before or after they'd eaten the corn? SignatureDavid >>>>> Hello: >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > > Before or after they'd eaten the corn? After, of course. Else it wouldn't be 'rough'. > >>>>> Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 49 lines] > > - Show quoted text - Cut the corn off the cob, cook and eat the corn. Put the cob in a bucket of water in the outhouse to soak and soften until it's needed. >sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe >one's bottom, but that's as may be. It's certainly my only understanding of the expression. Is there some other possible meaning? ¬R The anti-suffragists will continue to be eligible, won't they? http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/engel.html --Ida Husted Harper >> sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe >> one's bottom, but that's as may be. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > ¬R The anti-suffragists will continue to be eligible, won't they? > http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/engel.html --Ida Husted Harper That's the meaning - I was quibbling about the "obvious" origin. Obvious origins are nearly always wrong. How about a sturdy, wire-haired pony? SignatureDavid >>> sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe >>> one's bottom, but that's as may be. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >How about a sturdy, wire-haired pony? Other meanings of "cob" from the OED (chosen for amusement only): The stone of a fruit (in 15th c. cobyll-stone). testicle. dial. dial. A (baked apple) dumpling. A name given to species of Gull, esp. the Greater Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), and Common Gull (L. canus); also called sea-cob Obs. A spider. A name given in the 17th and 18th centuries in Ireland, and subsequently in some British colonies and possessions, to the Spanish dollar or ‘piece of eight’. A blow. 1828 Cherokee Phnix 10 Apr. (Bartlett), Such negro so offending shall receive fifteen cobbs or paddles for every such offence. var. KOB n.1 In full, kob antelope. An African water antelope of the genus Kobus, represented by several distinct species; esp. the species Kobus kob. var. KOB n.2 S. Afr. = KABELJOU. 1906 East London (Cape Province) Dispatch 26 June 3/7 Our well-known and very common kabeljaauw, called for briefness ‘cob’ or ‘kob’. 2. kob water, disturbed, discoloured water in which the kob is often found. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > Other meanings of "cob" from the OED (chosen for amusement only): > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > 2. kob water, disturbed, discoloured water in which the kob is often > found. Also the nut from the fruit of a species of hazel tree. We have one such tree in our Limousin garden. SignatureDavid >> Other meanings of "cob" from the OED (chosen for amusement only): >> [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] >Also the nut from the fruit of a species of hazel tree. We have one >such tree in our Limousin garden. Yes. cob, n1 has 12 senses with a number of subdivisions. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) the Omrud a écrit : >> Other meanings of "cob" from the OED (chosen for amusement only): > > Also the nut from the fruit of a species of hazel tree. We have one > such tree in our Limousin garden. Do you know how it is called in French (simple curiosity)? > the Omrud a écrit : >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Do you know how it is called in French (simple curiosity)? The French words for nuts are confusing. I was taught that the plain word "noix" means the same as the English "nut", but in the Limousin at least it only means "walnut" (the walnut is grown commercially in that region). The hazelnut is known as "noisette", which looks like it ought to mean a small nut. Other nuts with "nut" in the English name tend to be "noix de X", e.g. noix du Brésil, noix de cajou. Almond is "amande". SignatureDavid >> the Omrud a écrit : >>> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Other nuts with "nut" in the English name tend to be "noix de X", e.g. > noix du Brésil, noix de cajou. Almond is "amande". AIUI, French doesn't have a word for "nut" in general. "Noix" on its own means only walnut. SignatureJames >>> the Omrud a écrit : >>>> [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > AIUI, French doesn't have a word for "nut" in general. "Noix" on its own > means only walnut. Er, didn't I say that? Just a few lines up. What with the Limousin being in France. SignatureDavid >>>> the Omrud a écrit : >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Er, didn't I say that? Just a few lines up. What with the Limousin > being in France. I just stretched your Limousin to the whole of the French language (as Lanarcam did). SignatureJames >>>>> the Omrud a écrit : >>>>>> [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > I just stretched your Limousin to the whole of the French language (as > Lanarcam did). Right. I was hedging my comment slightly because walnuts are something of a religion in the Limousin and I can't remember ever discussing nuts elsewhere in France. SignatureDavid the Omrud a écrit : >> the Omrud a écrit : >>> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > least it only means "walnut" (the walnut is grown commercially in that > region). Elsewhere in France also, "walnut" is known as "noix". > The hazelnut is known as "noisette", which looks like it ought > to mean a small nut. Indeed. > Other nuts with "nut" in the English name tend to be "noix de X", e.g. > noix du Brésil, noix de cajou. Almond is "amande". > the Omrud a écrit : >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Do you know how it is called in French (simple curiosity)? I think cobs grow on cultivated varieties of Corylus avellana, le noisetier commun, aussi appelé coudrier. They are round and slightly bigger than the nuts on wild hazel trees. SignatureJames James Hogg a écrit : >> the Omrud a écrit : >>> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > noisetier commun, aussi appelé coudrier. > They are round and slightly bigger than the nuts on wild hazel trees. Like this one? <http://www.ormenis.com/upload/noisette_huile_bio_50ml_ormenis_zVy9RK.jpg> > James Hogg a écrit : >>> the Omrud a écrit : [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Like this one? > <http://www.ormenis.com/upload/noisette_huile_bio_50ml_ormenis_zVy9RK.jpg> Yes, and this: http://www.johnstowngardencentre.ie/cobnut-webbs-prize-cob-hazel-nut-tree/coryll us_webbspd.aspx SignatureJames >> sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe >> one's bottom, but that's as may be. > > It's certainly my only understanding of the expression. Is there > some other possible meaning? Male swan? "Rough" because the cob is mightier than the pen. > Male swan? "Rough" because the cob is mightier than the pen. Hey, it never struck me before that Charlotte and Louis were both literate cobs. ¬R >>> sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe >>> one's bottom, but that's as may be. >> It's certainly my only understanding of the expression. Is there >> some other possible meaning? >> > Male swan? "Rough" because the cob is mightier than the pen. Perhaps so, but I'd never try to work it out with a pen. SignaturePeter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org For an e-mail address, see my web page. > >> Which meaning of "cob" is considered here? > [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe > one's bottom, but that's as may be. The inclusion of "husk" in the last sentence seems to be highly recommended. Thank you all. Marius Hancu >> >> Which meaning of "cob" is considered here? >> [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > The inclusion of "husk" in the last sentence seems to be highly > recommended. In the old outdoor toilet (the "little house") there would be a supply of corn cobs (post shelling...the corn might have been eaten by humans, or by chickens or pigs and other domestic or wild animals, either in the fresh or dry state). For convenience and repeated use, the cob might have a string around it and be hung from a nail in the wall. Since husking would have preceded shelling, then the husks would be used up for various things long before the cobs would. Husks were long ago used like straw in mattresses and pillows, but still today as food wraps, as in the tamal, if soft and pliable. Both cobs and husks made good kindling, as well. >>> Hello: >>> [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] >sites which claim the term comes from using a corn cob husk to wipe >one's bottom, but that's as may be. Only if Indiana is considered to be Southern. "Rough as a cob", referring to a corn cob, was common usage in my youth in Indiana. While most people think of corn being grown for human consumption, most corn is "field corn" and used for livestock feed. Field corn kernels are harder than the "sweet corn" grown for human consumption. If you've ever seen a cob stripped of feed corn, you'd have no problem understanding the use of "rough". BTW, I don't agree with the use of "corn cob husk" above. It's "corn husk". The husk covers the kernels, and the kernels are on the cob, so "husk" is one part of the entire growth. SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > BTW, I don't agree with the use of "corn cob husk" above. It's "corn > husk". The husk covers the kernels, and the kernels are on the cob, so > "husk" is one part of the entire growth. We called them "corn shucks" when I was a kid. Google reports that it's significantly less common than "corn husks". Brian SignatureDay 367 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project >> BTW, I don't agree with the use of "corn cob husk" above. It's >> "corn [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > it's > significantly less common than "corn husks". We did some shucking and then we did some shelling of corn. I was rather young when we visited the farm, and I would get confused about the words. You see, there were some corn shocks, too. I couldn't shell well, with my city-soft hands. Later, when I read of farmers "horny hands", I always thought it was from shelling the corn. >>Hello: >> [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] >There is a standard phrase "angry sea". A "cob" might be Hiassen's >synonym for a "state of anger". I believe the word derives from the roughness of a cob of corn. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE |
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