oveta hobby

noun

1. Oveta Culp [kuhlp] /kʌlp/, 1905–1995, U.S. newspaper publisher and government official: first director of Women’s Army Corps 1942–45; first Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 1953–55.

noun plural -bies

1. an activity pursued in spare time for pleasure or relaxation
2. archaic, or dialect a small horse or pony
3. short for hobbyhorse (def. 1)
4. an early form of bicycle, without pedals

noun plural -bies

1. any of several small Old World falcons, esp the European Falco subbuteo, formerly used in falconry

n.late 13c., hobyn, “small horse, pony,” later “mock horse used in the morris dance,” and c.1550 “child’s toy riding horse,” which led to hobby-horse in a transferred sense of “favorite pastime or avocation,” first recorded 1670s, shortened to hobby by 1816. The connecting notion being “activity that doesn’t go anywhere.” Probably originally a proper name for a horse (cf. dobbin), a diminutive of Robert or Robin. The original hobbyhorse was a “Tourney Horse,” a wooden or basketwork frame worn around the waist and held on with shoulder straps, with a fake tail and horse head attached, so the wearer appears to be riding a horse. These were part of church and civic celebrations at Midsummer and New Year’s throughout England.