How on (Middle-)Earth have I gone 47 years without learning this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit_(unit)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit_(unit)
Comments
At first I thought it was a spoof, but the references seem to check out. (At least the two I could be bothered to check.) Why has this never been mentioned as a possible source? It's always just Aislabie Denham's old critter list ...
Certainly, it makes more sense than “a variation on rabbit” or “Tolkien once glimpsed it in an obscure list of names”. Even the size is about right. (And “Coomb” is also in the list of old weights.
"I like hobbit, and I could suggest that it comes from middle-somethingish for hole dweller. Who’s going to check me on it."