"zob" (U.S. slang, rare) may have its origin in a baseball conte...

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 03/22/2003 11:20:15 AM Eastern Standard Time,
gcohen at UMR.EDU writes:


>    1911 W. F. KIRK Right off Bat 13 He came here in the early Spring
> with all the try-out mob Striving to bat like Wagner and to slide
> (spikes first) like Cobb. Some of the vets cried, 'Bonehead!' Others
> remarked, 'Poor zob!'
> 1920 S. LEWIS Main Street xxxv. 416 And the same thing goes for that
> crowd of crabs and snobs Down East, and next time you hear some zob
>

Is it significant that in the 1911 quote "zob" rhymes with "mob" and "Cobb",
and that in the 1920 quote it (almost) rhymes with "snobs"?

                 - Jim Landau