Odds and ends

Odds and ends has a similar meaning to bits and bobs, which means odd remnants, miscellaneous items, bits and pieces. In bits and bobs, a ‘bob’ meaning a cluster or bunch, has been in use since The Middle Ages, but the expression 'bits and bobs' is thought be a Midlands dialectical version of 'odds and ends'. The origin is uncertain, but according to the OED, the verbatim expression, odds and ends, has been in use since the mid-18th century. However, some 150 years before this, Shakespeare used the expression ‘odd old ends’, which is very close to 'odds and ends, in King Richard III, Act I, Scene III. See also Odds and sods.