bobble(v.)

1812, frequentative of bob  The notion is "to move or handle something with continual bobbing."  Related:  Bobbled; bobbling. Bobble-head as a type of doll with a spring-mounted head is from 1968. 

"move up and down with a short, jerking motion," late 14c., bobben, probably connected to the Middle English bobben that meant "to strike in cruel jest, beat; fool, make a fool of, cheat, deceive" (early 14c.), which is perhaps from Old French bober "mock, deride," and perhaps ultimately of echoic origin.  Related:  Bobbed; bobbing.  The sense of "snatch with the mouth something hanging or floating," as in bobbing for apples (or cherries), is recorded by 1799.   bob and weave in boxing is by 1928.

bob(noun)  "short hair," 1680s; attested 1570s in sense of "a horse's tail cut short," from earlier bobbe "cluster" (as of leaves), mid-14c., a northern word, perhaps of Celtic origin (compare Irish baban "tassel, cluster," Gaelic babag).  The group of bob words in English is of obscure and mostly colloquial origin; some originally were perhaps vaguely imitative, but they have become more or less entangled and merged in form and sense.  As a noun, it has been used over the years in various senses connected by the notion of "round, hanging mass," as of weights at the end of a fishing line (1610s), a pendulum (1752) or a plumb-line (1832).  The hair sense was revived with a shift in women's styles starting in 1918 (when the cut was regarded as a sign of radicalism), and the modern noun meaning "a bobbed hair style" dates from 1920.  https://www.etymonline.com/word/bob#etymonline_v_13666    

noun  Quaker gun (plural Quaker guns)  From Quaker +‎ gun, referring to the pacifism associated with practitioners of the Quaker religion 

(idiomatic, chiefly US, weaponry, historical) A nonfunctional imitation of a gun or an artillery piece, typically made of wood and usually intended to deceive enemy forces into overestimating one's available firepower.  quotations ▼ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Quaker_gun#English 

One of the great American writers, Flannery O’Connor is a world-renowned icon of southern gothic fiction—but she was also a visual artist, and a newly discovered collection of her work will be unveiled to the world.  Totaling 70 pieces—from oil paintings and a self-portrait, to wood-burned illustrations and linoleum-block prints—the collection was revealed March 2025 at O’Connor’s alma mater of Georgia College & State University (GCSU), in Milledgeville, Georgia, where she lived most of her life and completed her greatest works.  “Scholars continue to study Flannery, to research her, and to use her as a model in creative writing programs,” said Dr. Katie Simon, interim executive director of GCSU’s The Flannery O'Connor Institute for the Humanities and an associate professor of English.  “She's taught as an example of literature—but scholars are starting to look at her as a visual artist, as well.  These paintings reveal that she never stopped creating visual art until her death.”  https://frontpage.gcsu.edu/node/20248   

Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month is a special occasion that celebrates poets’ integral role in our culture and that poetry matters.  Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K–12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, families, and—of course—poets, marking poetry’s important place in our lives.  https://poets.org/national-poetry-month   

BOOK ADDICTS by Martha Esbin

Book addicts fear having no books,

take extra books on trips in case

they run out, store books on the floor,

have books in each room of the house,

make up reading lists for themselves. 

KNOCKOUT IN THE NICK OF TIME by Martha Esbin 

She's got the knack knows where to look

takes a crack at it finds it in the nick of time.

The reference librarian knocks me out.  (excerpt)   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2928  April 16, 2025