BOB'S YOUR UNCLE

From: Gordon Totty [gtotty@earthlink.net]

Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 1998 9:37 AM

To: Jerry Pournelle

Subject: Bob's yer Uncle.

If you get a moment, could you tell me anything more about the subject phrase than what I have listed below?

Cockney slang. Means everything is all right.

Entomology unknown to me. Not listed in Partridge's Slang Dictionary.

May be rhymed "code" for other words.

It is the entomology that I am interested in. Who is Bob? Why Uncle Bob?

I learned the phrase from your columns, and for a long time saw it nowhere else. It does seem to be becoming more in use around here, however.

Thanks for any attention to this!

Gordon Totty

From: Harry Erwin [herwin@gmu.edu]

Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 1998 8:26 AM

To: jerryp@jerrypournelle.com

Subject: Bobs's Your Uncle

Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts (1832-1914). You might look him up.

--

Harry Erwin, herwin@gmu.edu

From: Jim Arnone [arnone@primenet.com]

Sent: Thursday, June 18, 1998 1:49 PM

To: jerryp@jerrypournelle.com

Subject: ChaosManorMail

Bobs's Your Uncle

Jerry,

I spoke with a British business associate this morning and asked him about this slang expression. He uses it, buts knows nothing of its origin. His comment was that he uses it to indicate everything is going OK or just as "filler" to make a statement longer without really saying anything.

I told him about Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts and his response was that perhaps he was very wealthy and left a large inheritance. If true this would be useful to wish someone good fortune.

The only information found on the web about this person was:

Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts; 1st Earl 1832-1914 field marshal Roberts, Sir Frederick Sleigh, Baron Roberts of Kandahar, Earl Roberts. (1832-1914) Known familiarly to Englishmen as 'Bobs,' the foremost British general of his time, who died of pneumonia in November, 1914, while visiting the British army in Flanders.

A check on British slang came up with the following:

British slang glossary

* Idiom/Phrases

"Bob's your uncle"

easy does it, no problem

Larry's Aussie Slang and Phrase Dictionary

Bob's your uncle

you just understood something that at first you did not not understand

Rob's Slang Page

Bob's your uncle - This term may come from the Irish politician Balfour who in 1887 was unexpectedly promoted to the vital front line post of Chief Secretary for Ireland by his uncle Robert, Lord Salisbury. This stroke of nepotism is said to have inspired the term. The phrase is used as if to say "and so it is done". e.g. "You just turn on the power, hit the switch and Bob's your uncle". If anyone knows of any alternate origins I would love to hear them.

United Kingdom English for the American Novice

BOB'S YOUR UNCLE phrase. 1. Everything is complete. There is no more to be done. As in, "Set up register 13 and BOB'S YOUR UNCLE".

Cheers!

Jim

Hello Jerry, I came across your page while planning an upcoming trip to London. I noticed that on http://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/bobs.html you link to http://www.geezer.demon.co.uk/, and I think that page may be broken (it doesn't seem to be working for me). In my research, I came across this site , http://www.pageandmoy.com/
articles/london-slang-dictionary.aspx,  and found it to be very helpful and interesting. I thought you might find it to be a fun addition to your page :)

Thanks, Amy Hazelton

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From: Harry Erwin [herwin@gmu.edu]

Sent: Thursday, June 18, 1998 7:33 PM

To: jerryp@jerrypournelle.com

Subject: Follow-Up on Bob's Your Uncle

Checking around, it looks like the Balfour story (1887) is more likely than a connection to Lord Roberts ('Bobs') of Kandahar. I had read somewhere that the expression came out of the South African thing and meant everything was under control, but that was later. Bobs was extremely popular in the British Army and died of illness in his 80s while inspecting Indian troops on the Western Front in 1914. He was a real hero type, winning his VC in the Mutiny, and a good commander, too. I suspect you would enjoy his biography.

Harry Erwin, herwin@gmu.edu

From: Marc Liggio <liggio@alliedworld.com>

Org: Allied Business Intelligence, Inc.

Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 16:29:23 -0400

Subj: Bob's Your Uncle

____________________________________________________________

This is clipped from THE ALT.USAGE.ENGLISH FAQ FILEby Mark Israel,

misrael@scripps.edu:

"Bob's your uncle"

------------------

This British phrase means "all will be well" or "simple as that":

"You go and ask for the job -- and he remembers your name -- and

Bob's your uncle." It dates from circa 1890.

P. Brendon, in _Eminent Edwardians_, 1979, suggests an origin:

"When, in 1887, Balfour was unexpectedly promoted to the vital front

line post of Chief Secretary for Ireland by his uncle Robert, Lord

Salisbury (a stroke of nepotism that inspired the catch-phrase

'Bob's your uncle'), ..."

Or it may have been prompted by the cant phrase "All is bob" =

"all is safe."

(Info from Eric Partridge's _Dictionary of Catch Phrases_, 2nd

edition, revised by Paul Beale, Routledge, 1985, ISBN

0-415-05916-X.)

--

Marc Liggio

"That will be all right; you needn't bother anymore, just leave it to

me! The phrase was occasioned by A. J. Balfour's promotion by his uncle

Robert (Lord Salisbury) the TORY Prime Minister, to the post of Chief

Secretary for Ireland. Balfour had previously been made President of

the Local Government Board in 1886, then Secretary for Scotland with a

seat in the Cabinet. The suggestion of nepotism was difficult to

ignore." p. 134