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BS: Is Bob Your Uncle?
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Subject: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: VirginiaTam Date: 02 Sep 09 - 02:50 PM I know I shouldn't start a silly thread. But after seeing the phrase "bob's your uncle" in some threads, doing a filter search on it and googling it for meaning and origin, I became curious. How many Catters have and Uncle Bob? I'll start. My Dad was a Bob and he was Uncle to loads of my cousins. But my mom's older brother was also a Bob, so it could get confusing to some cousins at family get together's. Ask Uncle Bob. I also have 3 fist cousins named Bob, Bobby and Bobbie Dale (girl). |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: ClaireBear Date: 02 Sep 09 - 02:54 PM My son has an Uncle Bob -- actually two, if you count the one who's really Neighbor Bob but called Uncle in an honorary capacity. I am alas Bobless myself. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Amos Date: 02 Sep 09 - 02:58 PM I had an uncle, now deceased, named Robert, but no-one called him Bob. His friends called him Red for reasons which, in his youth, were obvious. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Melissa Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:01 PM I'm adequately Bobbed..mine lives in Florida and is a nice uncle to have. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: The Barden of England Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:02 PM I always knew it as 'Bob's your uncle, and Fanny's your aunt'. Did you have any aunt Fannys I wonder? John Barden |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: VirginiaTam Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:10 PM Grandmother named Fay, no Aunt Fannies. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:12 PM I had an uncle named Bo. That's 2/3 of a Bob. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Rapparee Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:15 PM I had an Uncle Bob. After he retired from the fire department he drove the bookmobile for the public library and played Santa at their Christmas parties. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:17 PM Why immigrants are baffled by English. This one is little used in the U. S., but a lot of people there understand what is meant by it. There are claims that the phrase is old, but can anyone find a quotation before the 1930s? One from New Zealand is "Bob's a dying" meaning kicking up a fuss. This one is in the OED, but I couldn't find "Bob's your uncle." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Wesley S Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:21 PM I had an Uncle Bill. He was called "Sweet Old Bill" or just SOB for short. He was a co-pilot of a B-17 during the Big One. Bombed Berlin and Dresden - among others - from the list of missions I found. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:23 PM No, I consider him more like a brother, actually. Bob Dylan, that is. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: VirginiaTam Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:25 PM I understand what is meant by the phrase in the contexts I have seen and heard it. I was looking for origins and then got sidetracked into a little whimsical curiosity about how many people actually have an Uncle Bob, so started this Mudcat survey of Catters who have an Uncle named Bob. Something wrong with that? Did I do a wrong thing again? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: frogprince Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:26 PM No Bobs in my own bloodline. My father-in-law is an Uncle Bob. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: ClaireBear Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:32 PM My mother's name was Frances, so her nieces and nephews could have called her Aunt Fanny but wouldn't have dared. I had a Aunt Fern and an Aunt Florence, but no Fannys. Alas, I seem to be Bob-less and Fanny-free! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Becca72 Date: 02 Sep 09 - 03:38 PM I have an Uncle Bob but he's actually my mother's first cousin...he and his brothers were always called "uncle" though. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: gnu Date: 02 Sep 09 - 04:02 PM I have heard this phrase commonly from peeps of the Prarie Provinces of Canada. All ya gotta do is hook that to this and turn that and Bob's Yer Uncle. BYU.... okay with me... it works... I am fine, thanks, how are you?... etc. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Mrrzy Date: 02 Sep 09 - 04:11 PM No bobs, but uncle steve has a son named greg and uncle greg has a son named steve, on various sides of my family... No Aunt Fannies either. Other fannies, yes, but no aunts. Do you know that as a body part, a "fanny" is in the back if you're American, and in the front if you're Australian, which makes fanny packs rather ridiculous. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: gnomad Date: 02 Sep 09 - 04:12 PM No, Bob's my nephew, so I'm his uncle. I don't think that counts, does it? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Amos Date: 02 Sep 09 - 04:13 PM No, you did nothing wrong. THe phrase (I always thought) is Australian, and I have heard it from Aussie mates as long as I can remember. It means "there ya go!". Wikipedia says: "It is a catchphrase sometimes claimed to date to 1887, when British Prime Minister Robert Cecil, Lord Salisbury decided to appoint Arthur Balfour to the prestigious and sensitive post of Chief Secretary for Ireland. Lord Salisbury was Arthur Balfour's uncle. The difficulty with that proposed explanation is that there is no contemporary documentation for it, and, despite extensive searching, the earliest known published uses of the phrase are two from 1937 and two from 1938 (these and other quotations at American Dialect Society list archived posts by Stephen Goranson). [edit] Usage In some places in Britain, "Bob's your uncle" is also a way of saying "you're all set", "you've got it made!" or "that's great!" and is used as an expression of jubilation at good fortune. It is used thus in the Alastair Sim film Scrooge, a version of the classic Dickens story A Christmas Carol, where a reformed Ebenezer Scrooge confronts his housekeeper, Mrs Dilber, on Christmas morning. He gives her a guinea (£1.05 in that era, and equivalent to about $100 today) as a Christmas present, and announces he will significantly raise her salary. In a burst of excitement the housekeeper responds, "Bob's yer uncle! Merry Christmas, Mr Scrooge, in keeping with the situation!"[1]. However, this may be an anachronism, as A Christmas Carol was first published by Dickens in 1843 and as outlined above the expression (in the later film) was not in use at that time. Usage has also evolved to the expressions "Robert's your father's brother", "Robert's your auntie's husband" and "Robert's your mother's brother" as synonymous phrases. "Fanny's your aunt" appears later." The "Phrases.UK" site offers this: "Eric Partridge lists it in his Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English , 1937. He gives it the meaning 'all will be well', which is not quite how it is used now. Partridge states it as dating from circa 1890, although he presents no evidence for that. Also he suggests that it may be derived from the phrase 'all is bob', which meant 'all is well'. Another interpretation is that it derives from the supposed nepotism of Lord Salisbury. Piers Brendon, in Eminent Edwardians, 1979, writes: "... in 1887, Balfour was unexpectedly promoted to the vital front line post of Chief Secretary for Ireland by his uncle Robert, Lord Salisbury." Various authors have surmised that having an uncle Bob who was Prime Minister became synonymous with having a passport to an easy life. Copyright © Gary Martin, 1996 - 2009 " A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 02 Sep 09 - 04:56 PM Asking again, any quotations before the 1930s? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 02 Sep 09 - 05:23 PM ""Alas, I seem to be Bob-less and Fanny-free!"" Those language differences again, Claire Bear. That statement is hilarious in the UK context, besides being anatomically impossible. Don T |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: open mike Date: 02 Sep 09 - 05:48 PM on the other hand, there is a band called Uncle Earl and they have had a place on their web site to post info about any Uncles you have named Earl. http://www.uncleearl.net/ I do not and did not have an uncle named Bob, but did have an Earl. he was a great uncle actually... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Rapparee Date: 02 Sep 09 - 06:15 PM I have an Uncle Earl. Speaking of families: my brother Ted has a son named Tony, while my brother Tony has a son name Ted. There was my paternal grandfather, Ed, and my maternal grandfather, Ed. MG Ed had a brother named Ted. PG Ed had a brother named Joe, and my brother Tony has a son named Joe. Now, MG Ed had a son Ed Jr., who had a son named Ed 3. MG Ed and his brother Ted were twins and my brother Ted is named for Great-Uncle Ted, but nephew Ted is named fro brother Ted. Nephew Ted is uncle (and I am great-uncle) to Xavier and Andrew. My middle name is Anthony and my second middle name is Ralph (for my father). My brother Tony (or Anthony, to be formal) has Ralph as his second middle name, but brother Ted has Ralph as his middle name and Anthony as his second middle name. Oh, yes: PG Ed had a son named Ed Jr. as well. Ed Jr. was Uncle Bob's brother (as was my father). Want me to discuss my FEMALE relatives?? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: gnu Date: 02 Sep 09 - 06:18 PM No. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Art Thieme Date: 02 Sep 09 - 06:27 PM John Wayne Bobbit was Bob-bed by his wife. For what it's worth. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: JohnInKansas Date: 02 Sep 09 - 07:13 PM A recently seen brief book review sounded interesting but not enough so to look for the book. The title was something that suggested "red neck(?) or southern(?) phrases" and the example given was: "Well Butter my butt and call me a bisquit." I have (very rarely) heard that phrase used, and suspect that it, and similar ones that may be in the book, might be used in contexts similar to "Bob's your uncle" - and other similar "exclamations." This suggests that the scope of the thread might be extensible to include a wide variety of such John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Deckman Date: 02 Sep 09 - 07:17 PM I'm a "BOB". that's all I'm gonna' say ...(damned good thing too). Bob(deckman)Nelson |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 02 Sep 09 - 07:21 PM Bob was my father-in-law, Rob is my brother in law and Robbie is my nephew... Had a great uncle Bog and a Great Aunt Fanny... but that's enough of that! LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: GUEST,Dani Date: 02 Sep 09 - 07:36 PM had one. Dani |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 02 Sep 09 - 08:18 PM no Bobs in my family, but my greatgrandfather (or was he my GGGF?) was named Robert. Dunno if he was a Bob, tho sandra |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Rapparee Date: 02 Sep 09 - 09:25 PM Was he transported by a bobby? I'll bet that made him feel lower'n a snake's belly in a muddy wagon rut. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Bert Date: 02 Sep 09 - 09:46 PM Way back in the Fifties usage devolved the expression into "Bob's ya flippin'" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: wysiwyg Date: 02 Sep 09 - 09:56 PM Bob was my grandfather, and we all called him Bob, not grandpa. It was amazing tho how many times I referred to the uncle-y sort of Bob during our camping vacay-- each time I solved some minor logistical issue I found a new way to incorporate ol' Uncle Bob into the announcement, such as, "He must have been such a GOOD big brother for my Mom," as I did a Mom-style little refinement of some thingummabob. "Who?" Hardi would say, and I'd explain, "Bob, of course." Poor Hardi fell for every Bob-reference for 3 weeks. "Oh look, it's easy with an Uncle like Bob," or, if Hardi did the fix, "Oh! We must be cousins then!" "Huh?" "Bob's YOUR uncle, too!" ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Peace Date: 02 Sep 09 - 10:01 PM Q: "It is a catchphrase sometimes claimed to date to 1887, when British Prime Minister Robert Cecil, Lord Salisbury decided to appoint Arthur Balfour to the prestigious and sensitive post of Chief Secretary for Ireland. Lord Salisbury was Arthur Balfour's uncle. The difficulty with that proposed explanation is that there is no contemporary documentation for it, and, despite extensive searching, the earliest known published uses of the phrase are two from 1937 and two from 1938 (these and other quotations at American Dialect Society list archived posts by Stephen Goranson)." From Wikipedia |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: robomatic Date: 02 Sep 09 - 10:03 PM I AM that uncle for 4 lovely blondes. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Peace Date: 02 Sep 09 - 10:07 PM "There is another big problem: the phrase isn't recorded until 1937, in Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Mr Partridge suggested it had been in use since the 1890s, but nobody has found an example in print. This is surprising. If public indignation or cynicism against Lord Salisbury's actions had been great enough to provoke creation of the saying, why didn't it appear — to take a case — in a satirical magazine of the time such as Punch? A rather more probable, but less exciting, theory has it that it derives from the slang phrase all is bob, meaning that everything is safe, pleasant or satisfactory. This dates back to the seventeenth century or so (it's in Captain Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue of 1785). There have been several other slang expressions containing bob, some associated with thievery or gambling, and from the eighteenth century on it was also a common generic name for somebody you didn't know. Any or all of these might have contributed to its genesis." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Peace Date: 02 Sep 09 - 10:08 PM Sorry. That's from the www. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: quokka Date: 02 Sep 09 - 10:46 PM From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: "Bob's your uncle. Everything will be easy once you have done this. The phrase is said to have been 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." Cheers, Quokka P.S. My kids have an uncle Bob. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 03 Sep 09 - 12:24 AM A great uncle Bog?? I meant Bob.... There was a great great great aunt Fanny too... or so I thought when I found her baptism entry in the parish register. Turns out she's not an aunt but a cousin as her mother was unmarried and her baptism entry erroneously recorded. LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Joe Offer Date: 03 Sep 09 - 01:04 AM Bob's my father. He's the proud uncle of many nieces and nephews. He was the baby of the family, and his brothers died of heart attacks over twenty years ago, both at age 72. My dad also had a heart attack at age 72, but he survived. Now, at almost 90, my dad Bob's been the proud patriarch for all those years. And a good Bob he is. -Joe, proud to be Son of Bob- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Rapparee Date: 03 Sep 09 - 09:28 AM My best friend for many years was Bob. He's now hangin' around near my parents, grandparents, cousins, great-grandparents, and a few other friends. A TRUE rifleman all his life, I slipped a .22 cartridge deep into a hole in the dirt that covers him -- I like to think he appreciated it. Sure wish he was still around and kickin'.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Mooh Date: 03 Sep 09 - 01:35 PM I use the expression "Bob's your uncle" and I coincidentally have an uncle named Bob. So there ya go. Peace, Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: gnu Date: 03 Sep 09 - 03:12 PM When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin alonnnng... worms die. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Ed T Date: 03 Sep 09 - 08:52 PM Had a bob tailed cat (Manx). Once rode on a bob sled as a child. Bobbed for apples once, at a childhood birthday party. That's it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Is Bob Your Uncle? From: Rapparee Date: 03 Sep 09 - 09:04 PM I've got stuck in bob wire.... |
