1590: Productivity of Rhyming: hobby and robin Apr 22, 2019

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The word 'hobby' comes from a name for a horse breed, that in turn came from a given name, that is also the name for a bird. That might sound a little confusing, but arguably nicknaming used to be much more popular, and this led to the creation of some words that outlived the nickname. 'Hobby', meaning a fun but not necessarily productive leisure activity comes from 'hobbyhorse': a toy horse that doesn't move anywhere. However, 'hobby', and 'dobbin—the older term for 'hobbyhorse—come from the given name 'Robin', which was originally short for Robert. Moreover, the bird 'robin' also comes as a pet form of the name Robert. This may seem weird, but compare it to other rhyming names like 'Dick', 'Bill', or 'Bob', and you'll see the popularity of the rhyming trend.

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