Ay, there's the nub

After Dave's Morning Porch pieces inspired me to try writing short bits here on my blog, I needed a category for them, so I decided on nubbins. A nubbin, according to Dictionary.com, is a small or imperfect ear of corn, an undeveloped fruit, a small lump or stunted piece. That fits.

This morning I searched online for nubbin, and turned up a few more, um, interesting uses for the word. Well, I had no idea. Here's the Urban Dictionary entry on nubbin. Besides referring to a third (supernumerary) nipple, there's... well, I will let my English friends confirm that it's used there to refer to a certain sensitive part of a woman's anatomy. I also rather like definition #11: pet term for loved one. Hello my little nubbin! In addition, when entering 'nubbin' into Google, it offers up nubbin oil, which I take it is designed to turn little nubbins right into giant ears of corn. There is also nubbin buck, a buck whose antlers haven't yet grown out. In the blog world, I find that Dooce has a category called nubbins, and the blog "arianafrench" has nubbin.com as its URL. There's also the charming nubbytwiglet, a graphic designer, though nubby is quite a different thing from nubbin I suppose.

Anyway, for small bits, they do take some time and inspiration to create. So the nubbins will sprout when they will. In the meantime, be sure to visit Morning Porch for your daily fix. I know there are other sites with these brief bursts out there, so let me know if you see them.

Comments

[Lady P]

Well if the BBC says it is it must be so.

I now feel inhibited about expressing admiration for your (singular) nubbin, and alarm about doing so for a plurality of nubbins.

[Jean]

<< I will let my English friends confirm that it's used there to refer to a certain sensitive part of a woman's anatomy >> Um, yes. Not very commonly, but that *was* where my mind first went when I first saw your use of the word. I nearly blurted this when I first saw it, then decided that this response would not perhaps reflect well on me :-)

[kat]

I haven't yet developed the art of nubbins yet, but I'll be working on it. Hmmm ... now there's an interesting blog site, " The Art of Nubbins." Thanks for the info, Leslee.

[Lorianne]

Don't feel bad, Jean: it's the first thing I thought of, too, and I'm not even British! In fact, I had to check the dictionary to see what the "other" meanings of the word were, assuming that wasn't what Leslee was talking about. :-)

[Dave]

Well, now I like the word even better than before! Thanks for the plug. (I'm sure that word has other meanings, too.)

[leslee]

LadyP: Yes, I found that BBC page this morning as well, but declined to link it. As this is in the comments, I'll allow it. ;-)

Jean & Lorianne: Well, clearly I missed something in my education about these things. Note to self to meet some Englishmen and clear up this oversight.

Kat: The Art of Nubbins, apparently, could be misconstrued. Proceed with caution. (See above.)

Dave: My sentiment exactly. Although I'm not sure I'll be able to write another one without taking this new information into consideration.

[Hg]

"Note to self to meet some Englishmen and clear up this oversight."

Never come across this word before, I have to admit. Even in its purely agricultural definition.

[leslee]

Hg: Well then, I'm relieved to see that it's not a universally sniggered at term. Only instantly by those whose minds are attuned that way. Still, I might need a larger sample of Englishmen to get to the bottom of it.

[Jean]

I seriously doubt that any Englishman you might meet will call it that :-) But there's no substitute for first-hand research, of course.

[Leslee]

Hmm, well "first-hand research" I'm all too familiar with, but that wasn't what I had in mind. ;-)