the.com/watch fob
The leash that proves your watch had a life before wrists existed.
means A short chain or strap attached to a pocket watch, used to secure it and pull it out of the pocket, often dangling a small ornament.
from From 'fob,' a small pocket—likely related to German dialect 'Fuppe,' meaning pocket—that appeared in English in the 1600s for the little pouch sewn into trousers to hold a watch. The chain or strap used to fish the watch back out borrowed the same name, so 'fob' drifted from the pocket itself to the thing dangling from it.
- origin
- Pocket watches needed a chain so they would not fall out
- etymology
- Fob meant pocket in old German dialects
- status symbol
- Victorian men swapped charms on fobs to flex wealth
- modern life
- Survives today as the dangly bit on keychains