Talk:manboob

RFV discussion: September 2015–February 2016

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manboob

A former North African currency? I can't find any reference to it. Presumably the two senses have different etymologies (unless North Africa once used male breasts as currency, which seems... improbable), so if it is real, it should be under a separate etym header. WurdSnatcher (talk) 18:16, 22 September 2015 (UTC)

I've added three quotations. —Mr. Granger (talk • contribs) 18:51, 22 September 2015 (UTC)

• It still needs its own etym. ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │^{Tala við mig} 18:53, 22 September 2015 (UTC)

Thanks! I split the etyms up, but of course I don't know where the currency comes from. WurdSnatcher (talk) 15:28, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

• I think it's a typo for mahbub/mahboob, an Ottoman coin (from Arabic محبوب (“beloved”)). Smurrayinchester (talk) 07:46, 25 September 2015 (UTC)

Reminds me of a joke I saw. She sends him a text saying "would you like to see mahboob?" "Oh yes" he says. She sends back this. Renard Migrant (talk) 18:46, 25 September 2015 (UTC)

• Seems to be a rare scanno (or the equivalent done by a human ignorant of the spelling), and therefore should be deleted. —Μετάknowledge^{discuss/deeds} 04:59, 5 October 2015 (UTC)
  • I tend to agree; at Ngram Viewer "manboob" is too rare (in any sense; and we know some uses are not of the "coin" sense) to be plotted. - -sche (discuss) 20:50, 18 January 2016 (UTC)
    • Indeed, the first citation uses manboob three times and mahboob five times, confirming (or strongly suggesting) that one is a typo. (The other two appear to only use manboob.) I've done this. - -sche (discuss) 20:14, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

I would even support removing the usage note—a misprint/typo that has only two or three citations doesn't warrant mention. If we're concerned that readers may search for "manboob" when looking for the currency (though that seems unlikely given the rareness of the typo), {{also|mahboob}} could help with that. —Mr. Granger (talk • contribs) 20:49, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

Which is better, {{also}} or ===See also===? I tend to think {{also}} is for graphically similar things, whereas this is a case of one letter being used for another (though they happen to be graphically similar). But I have no strong preference. - -sche (discuss) 22:14, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

For reference, these were the two citations which used 'manboob' (only a very few times) and didn't also use 'mahboob':

• 1962, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, Volume 71, page 436:

  ½ a Manboob

• 1966, H. G. Barnby, The Prisoners of Algiers, page 89:

  On his Paying his Respects to the Dey he Kisses his Hand and Sits Down Opposite to Him Disscourses about an Hour, Drinks a Dish of Coffe and fills the Cup with Manboobs [1 manboob = 1 dollar 35]