nubbin
イヤホンプラグの規格について取り上げられております。この規格の歴史は長く，19世紀から今日に至るまで使われております。現在開発中のiPhone7は，より薄い製品にするために独自規格のプラグを開発中という噂もあります。この噂に関連して，現状規格のプラグを採用してほしいという嘆願書が20万人以上から集まっているようです。
記事の中で気になった単語は"nubbin"です。『Wisdom英和辞典第三版』（三省堂）によると「小さな塊, 使い残し」などという意味がありました。Oxford Dictionaries.comには"A small lump or residual part"と定義されております。Oxford Dictionaries.comでは，17世紀後半に使われ始めた言葉のようです。（Ume）
The 19th Century plug that's still being used
It will also be a blow for a piece of technology that has been remarkably resilient. The 3.5mm headphone jack is essentially a 19th Century bit of kit - it is a miniaturised version of the classic quarter-inch jack (6.35mm), which is said to go back as far as 1878.
Both sizes of plug have a nubbin of metal that nips in before flaring out just before the tip. "It needed to be something that could be inserted and removed very easily, but still make a secure connection," says Charlie Slee, a member of the Audio Engineering Society.
Initially the quarter-inch jack was used by operators in old-fashioned telephone switchboards, plugging and unplugging connections. "The standard has always been quarter-inch jacks," says Dr Simon Hall, head of music technology at Birmingham City University.
