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ladyeclectic79 t1_j21gqxi wrote

Anyone else wonder if this is where Terry Pratchett got his idea for a Night Watchman named Nobby Knobs? Because that’s straight where MY brain went lol.

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dentistshatehim t1_j21ohnp wrote

Nobby was a common nickname for law enforcement types, it came from British Soldiers who served in India in offices/admin. Nobi is Hindu for clerk.

Those officers would come back and get jobs in law enforcement and so the nickname transferred over. I’m not saying Pratchett didn’t name the character after Piltcher, but there was precedent already for police, particularly those more interested in bureaucracy and formality being called Nobby.

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CoffeeFox t1_j22fzth wrote

Pratchett's Nobby was definitely not the desk job type... nor the job type... nor was he certainly 100% human.

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ksdkjlf t1_j22lb8w wrote

Do you have a source for any of that? I can't find anything resembling the supposed Hindu word, nor any use of "nobby" for cops.

Perhaps you are thinking of the association of the nickname Nobby with the name Clark (which is derived from clerk)? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobby

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benefit_of_mrkite t1_j21iuxe wrote

Yes - I see the name nobby and police officer together and immediately think of the knights watch novels

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