»A few words on riding the subway / bibelot

Often, when riding a crowded subway car in the morning, I will necessarily stare at the advertising placards, reading in each medical condition for which a cure is on offer (bunions! hammer-toe! skin blemishes! weight loss! weight gain!) and the social ills I might solve with a phone call: bankruptcy, a divorce, an injured child; the pleasures I will gain from cologne, whiskey, candy, patent medication. I stare at the ads to avoid staring at the newspapers around me, which I have learned is not done (in fact, I learned this from a whisky ad on the subway and then confirmed it with Anna). Sometimes I bring my own book, but more often I stare at the ads. On occasion, music from someone's headphones will bleed out into the subway and a tune will stick in my head.

This morning, the word bibelot popped into my head, and I couldn't get it out: where does it come from? (Latin, through French) How might I use it? (in lieu of bauble, chachka, geegaw, gimcrack, knickknack, trinket, or whatnot; the latter is a special favourite of mine).