From Newsgroup: sci.lang




It was only 4(?) years ago that I learned 2 Brit expressions
[Bob's your uncle], and (((???)))

and one of my 3 fav Ling Youtubers seems to be telling me that


[Bob's your uncle] is actually American ???



_______________________


was it used by SH, Nabokov, Joyce ?

No, "BobrCOs your uncle" was never once used by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Vladimir Nabokov, or James Joyce.

The absolute lack of this phrase across their collective works boils down to an issue of historical and geographic timelines: .................
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From Newsgroup: sci.lang




It was only 4(?) years ago that I learned 2 Brit expressions
[Bob's your uncle], and (((???)))

and one of my 3 fav Ling Youtubers seems to be telling me that


[Bob's your uncle] is actually American ???



_______________________


was it used by SH, Nabokov, Joyce ?

No, "BobrCOs your uncle" was never once used by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Vladimir Nabokov, or James Joyce.

The absolute lack of this phrase across their collective works boils down to an issue of historical and geographic timelines: .................
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From Newsgroup: sci.lang

HenHanna@NewsGrouper <user4055@newsgrouper.org.invalid> wrote:

It was only 4(?) years ago that I learned 2 Brit expressions
[Bob's your uncle], and (((???)))

and one of my 3 fav Ling Youtubers seems to be telling me that


[Bob's your uncle] is actually American ???

_______________________

was it used by SH, Nabokov, Joyce ?

No, "BobrCOs your uncle" was never once used by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Vladimir Nabokov, or James Joyce.

The absolute lack of this phrase across their collective works boils down to an issue of historical and geographic timelines: .................

if the following was widely known, Joyce
would have written about it??? (or used it???)




The Popular Origin Story (British Nepotism)

The most famous, widely cited theory for the phrase dates back to 1887
British politics. Prime Minister Robert "Bob" Gascoyne-Cecil (the
Marquess of Salisbury) shockingly appointed his own young nephew, Arthur Balfour, to the highly prestigious and powerful post of Chief Secretary
for Ireland.

The public view was that Balfour didn't earn the job through merit;
rather, your success was entirely guaranteed because "BobrCOs your
uncle".

Over time, the phrase evolved from a joke about political favoritism
into a general expression meaning "and there you have it" or "it's as
simple as that".
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From Newsgroup: sci.lang



i think.... [Angine de Poitrine] seems a bit like
[Agenbite of inwit]

both result in acute (sensation of) tightening of the chest/heart ?



HenHanna@NewsGrouper <user4055@newsgrouper.org.invalid> posted:

It was only 4(?) years ago that I learned 2 Brit expressions
[Bob's your uncle], and (((???)))

and one of my 3 fav Ling Youtubers seems to be telling me that


[Bob's your uncle] is actually American ???

_______________________

was it used by SH, Nabokov, Joyce ?

No, "BobrCOs your uncle" was never once used by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Vladimir Nabokov, or James Joyce.

The absolute lack of this phrase across their collective works boils down to an issue of historical and geographic timelines: .................

All is bob --- I'd never heard of it.

__________________


Older British Slang Roots


Some etymologists point out that if the 1887 political scandal was the sole trigger, it shouldn't have taken until 1923 to show up in a newspaper.

A deeper linguistic theory suggests it evolved from a 1700s British slang phrase, "All is bob," which was recorded in the 1785 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue and simply meant "all is well" or "safe and sound".
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From Newsgroup: sci.lang

On 01/06/26 06:51, HenHanna wrote:

The most famous, widely cited theory for the phrase dates back to 1887 British politics. Prime Minister Robert "Bob" Gascoyne-Cecil (the
Marquess of Salisbury) shockingly appointed his own young nephew, Arthur Balfour, to the highly prestigious and powerful post of Chief Secretary
for Ireland.

The public view was that Balfour didn't earn the job through merit;
rather, your success was entirely guaranteed because "BobrCOs your
uncle".

Over time, the phrase evolved from a joke about political favoritism
into a general expression meaning "and there you have it" or "it's as
simple as that".

Donald's your father-in-law.
--
Peter Moylan peter@pmoylan.org http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW
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