sweating 'cobs'

[crisgal]

why do we say that?

[HowardKennitby]

Cassell's Slang Dict. gives

"sweat cobs" - to perspire heavily; where cob = a rounded lump. No derivation is given but suggests a link to "have a cob on"

[maggiebee]

Never heard that one before - guess it's from "down south"?

[crisgal]

no maggiebee, i'm 'oop north, by 'eck!
So doesn't everyone say it then?

[B00]

Normal people (ie, us up north) do aye crisgal :-)

[Kiki-frog]

It definitely goes as far south as Brum as my OH says it. I'd never heard it before I met him, though, so maybe it's not used much further south than that.

[tonyav]

Quite a common saying, in my neck of the woods West Mids.

[Zacs-Master]

Common saying in West Yorkshire, probably dying out with my parents generation now tho.

[Quizmonster]

One lunchtime in my local, on the south coast, a couple - from Derbyshire - came in looking for a light lunch. They asked the barman if the pub did cobs, to which he replied, "What's a cob?" For them, it was a small round loaf or bun, but he had clearly never heard of it, so it may well have spread north, but it seems not to have spread south!

[Quizmonster]

I meant to add above that, in terms of sweat, the rounded idea still applies...ie positive 'beads' of sweat trickling down rather than just general dampness.

[crisgal]

yes, a cob is a round crusty loaf up here.

[tonyav]

Same here crisgal, but there is a type of horse if I remember correctly called a cob.

[Kiki-frog]

Yes, there is, Tony. And the first time I heard OH say he was sweating cobs, I thought he meant he was sweating like a horse!

[Quizmonster]

Kiki, a cob is a short-legged, stout breed of horse...ie it's pretty 'rounded'!
The word has been used in many contexts where roundness is generally significant, a fruit-stone, a chignon in a woman's hair, a lump of coal and many others...even a testicle!

[Chinajan]

'Sweating conkers' is also common in W Yorks

[EcclesCake]

I'm a softy southerner and have heard that term. Maybe Wiki or Urban dictionary will hold the answer....