A Guest

Still waiting for real summer to come though we have had some sunny days.  We are halfway through the year and I realised with a shock that at the end of this week it will be the  longest day.  This week I have the pleasure of my daughter-in-law staying with me.  Yesterday we sat in the sun in Hove Par,a really beautifu place with magnificent trees.  We sat outside the cafe eating ice creams.  We had so much to say it is a wonder our tongues weren't sunburnt

Nobs and snobs

More strange words.  At my daughter's graduation ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral Don and I were fortunate enough to be given tickets by a friend who worked at the University.  This ensured us two seats close to where all the action was,  as I said afterwards we sat among the "nobs".  Not that any of them spoke to us so we could not say we were" hob-nobbing" with them.  I was ruminating on these words.  I suppose they originally came from the word  "nobility".  Whereas "snobs" is quite a different kettle of fish.  "Snobs" implies someone not pleasant who considers himself superior to the lower orders and shows it,  someone who is copying the ways of  persons he considers
 superior.  (See Hyacinth Bucket or Ronnie Barker in the famous sketch with John Clees and Ronnie Corbett)
When I was a child (a long time ago) I was told to take my shoes to the snobs to be soled and heeled.  The snob was a slang word for a cobbler.  I wonder how that came about?
I love the infinite variety of the English language.