Etymology
One theory for the origin of the word comes from markings made with chalk on the back of livestock up for sale in cattle yards throughout the southern states of the USA. Each potential customer would register their unique mark with a registrar at the meet, who would record this information in a "Dealer Identification Book". These books themselves came to be known collectively as DIBS.
Another claim for the origin of the term can be found in The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten. Rosten claims the word derives from the Yiddish phrase fin dibsy, which means to lay claim on something. Additionally, the 1967 edition of Dictionary of American Slang states that the word "dibs" comes from the verb to divvy. A third possible origin for the term can be found in Webster's Dictionary, Second Edition, dated 1937, in which the term "dibs" refers to jacks, an old children's game played with jackstones and a small ball that dates back to 1812.
Essentially, "to dib" as a verb has to do with "looking down, bending down, or delving into water".
Read more about this topic: Dibs
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)