From:
Bob C
Date: 2001-12-05 01:36:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Subject: Gib or Djib?
Claire Curtis asked
>Silly question, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know --
>
>Do you pronounce gib with a hard g, as in "get" or "gibbon", or with a
>soft g as in "gym" or "gem"?
>
>Also, does anyone know the derivation of the terms hob and sprite? I
>know both are terms for potentially destructive but sometimes helpful
>elf-type critters; is that intentional?
This one is right up my alley. Gib (I've heard it pronounced both ways,
but mostly with the hard G) and Sprite are quite modern terms,
apparently invented in the 1970s-early 1980s by ferret fanciers on the
east coast of North America. The terms may trace prior to that time, but
not in any reliable publication. The reason you don't see it prior to
that time is because ferrets were rarely neutered prior to then, and the
terms were invented to describe neutered animals. I've been told
(anecdotally) that the Late Dr. Windy Wensted coined the terms while
promoting ferrets as pets, but I haven't confirmed it independently. The
terms are rarely used out of North America, although it is used a bit in
England. In most other places, the use is unknown. The use is
primarily confined to ferret shows where neutered animals are judged in
different categories than whole animals.
Hob and Jill can be traced back to the Middle Ages (and their
derivatives even further), but were not used exclusively for ferrets.
In older publications (even until the turn of the century), you can
frequently find the use of "Dame", "Dam" or "Bitch" to describe female
ferrets, and "Sire", "Jack" and "Cur" to describe males. There are
other terms, but rarely used and were probable local terms. Just after
the turn of the century, the use of hob and jill became standardized as
ferret books were printed and distributed in quantity.
Hob does refer to clowns or goblins, but it is also a pet name of Rob,
Bob, Robin, or Robert and it also refers to the side of a fireplace or
grate. Ferrets love to roll in warm ashes or steal bits of roasting
food, so the term could refer to the fireplace (I doubt it because
ferrets were generally kept outside). Some think the name is a
shortening of the word "hobble", which means to move up and down in an
unsteady motion, which could describe a ferret gait or war dance. I
personally think it came out of early falconry; using ferrets to bolt
rabbits so hawks could hunt them was a common practice at the time the
name hob was first used in print to describe a ferret. Falconers know a
Hobby is a small species of falcon or "inferior hawk" (also hobbe, hoby,
hobé, hobet, hobe, or hobby hawk). It isn't hard to see how a shortened
version of the name of the falcon could be used as a nickname for the
ferret, especially if they were used together in falconry AND it was a
pun off rob, a well known ferret trait. Still, in all fairness, the
etymology of the word Hob to describe a male ferret is unknown.
Jill is easy; it comes from Gille or Gyll, short for Gillian, a popular
form of of Juliana, which was a favorite and very popular feminine name
during the Middle Ages. Jill was the popular slang for girl or woman.
To make this FHL related (well, sort of), during the Middle Ages, it was
thought eating a ferret liver could cure snake bite, drinking a
ground-up ferret penis mixed with wine would cure impotence, and
drinking milk that a ferret sipped from would cure the whooping cough.
Bob C