Monday August 12th 2019

On this the Glorious 12th, as I munched on Nobby's Nuts, I pondered a vital and important thought which simmered within the void. Could I change Nobby's Nuts to something else by changing one letter at a time? I could.

Nobby's Nuts

Hobby's Huts

Hubby's Hits

Tubby's Bits

Cudby's Bats

Buddy's Cats

Muddy's Caps

Fuddy's Gaps

With that absolutely grueling lexicographical feat over, Nobby - where does this come from?

According to a well known internet encycolpedia, the term Nobby is the diminutive form of the name Norbert. There's more. It is also sometimes the nickname for people with the surname Clark or Clarke.

But why.........? well

1 ) Clerks in the City of London used to wear Nobby hats, a type of bowler hat. 

2  Monks oft wrote letters for the poor. Monks were known as Clerks

3) Getting tenuous now. As monks wrote so much their fingers became knobbly = nobbly? Hmm

4 ) A Nob can be used to denote a toff or aristocrat - noble person being shorten to nob ! Allegedly the first use of this term is from The English Spy (1825), a satirical book by the author and journalist Charles Molloy Westmacott about fashionable life in Regency England: “Nob or big wig.” 

So there you have it. Nobby's Nuts..... 

A Regency nobleman monk used to writing long hand in his bowler hat. 

Who says my research isn't rigorous and taken on trust?  Tasty too.