the.com/pastime
A hobby with lower stakes and a better alibi for wasted hours.
means An activity you do regularly just to pass the time pleasantly, not for profit or purpose.
from A straightforward 15th-century compound: 'pass' + 'time,' built the same way in French (passe-temps). No hidden story here — it means exactly what it looks like, something invented to make time move along more agreeably.
- origin
- literally pass + time, coined 1500s
- baseball
- called americas pastime since the 1850s
- distinction
- hobbies build skill, pastimes just kill clocks