Whats an earbob?

Generally speaking, southerners speak and act a lot alike with our sly charm and polite yet passive manner*. We act like everyone is speaking our language- But sometimes being southern can really baffle the bejesus out of those who know not how to define our "southern" terms and phrases.

As in my case today as I was describing some sweet vintage shank buttons on our website www.habsav.com I realized, to my surprise, that the term "bob" was not as widely used as I had suspected it to be. As the inquiries about "bobs" and what "bobs" were started flooding in from customers and friends- it hit me. Speaking southern is hard. So here is what dictionary.com says about bobs... ear·bob    /ˈɪərˌbɒb/ Show Spelled[eer-bob] –noun Southern and South Midland U.S. an earring or eardrop. Origin: 1640–50

So, there y'all. I first heard the term earbobs as a little girl when my grandma would describe the church ladies' earrings as "bobs". Of course, I had to investigate, so I proceeded to ask the church ladies what "bobs" were. Some said "Well now, shugga, those are earrings". OK, well what kind of earrings? "Well, they are round and raised up like half of a little ball. Its an earbob, honey". OK I think i've got it. They are objects that are 'semi-spherical' like those 1950's stud earrings.

I have ever-since called anything that is small and semi-spherical a "bob".

Now sitting in front of my computer confused and dejected in my isolated southern state, I felt like "bob" was a curse word, or even worse, I was not using the word in the correct context for a button. Was the term "bob" meant only as"earbob" for short, and thus ruining my cred on the subject of description writing?

But ALAS! As I tried to find a way to respond to my curious writers, I received an email from a nice gal from South Carolina who confirmed that a "bob" can refer to anything that is small, and shaped like half of a sphere and she has called shank buttons bobs for years. So, maam, tip of the hat to you, wherever you are below the mason-dixon line.

So these photos are a few examples of our bobs, all of which are available via the Haberdashery store on our website or check us out on Etsy. Hope this made you feel just a little more southern today, in a good way.








*Sugarneck- [shu-ga-nek] Noun A term used to define the accent and demeanor that can be described as a cross between Paula Deen and Larry the Cable Guy and is often used at family reunions, chance meetings with friends on the street, at church, or when describing to a friend how cute their ugly baby is.