As in “I’ve got dibs on the…”
Here, at least, it’s used to denote that you have reserved something. I have “dibs” on the screen-name reprise.
Mostly, it’s used casually - “I’ve got dibs on the remote control/chocolate cake/etc”. Occasionally, we use it to mean “first turn” at an activity.
But I think the OP is asking what the heck “dibs” mean, and where it is derived from. Good question. Now I wanna know too!
In Arabic, dibs means a molasses-like syrup made by boiling down grape juice.
So when we’re getting in the car and the kids yell “Dibs on the front seat!” I tell them, “No way are you gonna put molasses on the seat!”
But that’s just kidding. The English word dibs means ‘money, especially in small amounts’. It’s short for dibstones, a children’s game played with knucklebones, hence knucklebones, counters used in a game, money, probably from dib, to tap, dip, variant of dab. That probably comes from Middle Dutch dabben, to tap. —American Heritage Dictionary, 1st ed.
The meaning of “dibs” as posted by Jomo Mojo goes back in print to 1807.
The meaning of “dibs” as a share, or portion to 1829.
“Dibs” as meaning first claim on an item dates only in print from 1932.
…from JE Lighter, American Slang.
I have to assume that this started as a slang term (why i have to assume this, I don’t know).
Any ideas as to what the origin of the term is?
ok, you’re not gonna believe this, but the origin of “dibs” dates back to a schoolyard on the south side of Chicago in 1922. A kid dropped his bag of marbles and someone said, “Hey, I got dibs on those!” and he grabbed as many of them as he could. Ever since then, the phrase has meant that someone had claim to something - the front seat, the first spoonful of ice cream, etc. Just that one time. To this day, no one knows why he yelled that, but yell it he did, and that’s the derivation of that term. It just caught on.
Um, check the post two above yours by Jomo Mojo. He gives the etymology.