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

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  [Bob's your uncle]  is  actually American ???  HenHanna@NewsGrouper <user4055@newsgrouper.org.invalid> - 2026-05-31 20:47 +0000
    Re: [Bob's your uncle]  is  actually American ??? "HenHanna" <HenHanna@Posting.from.CsiPh> - 2026-05-31 20:51 +0000
      Re: [Bob's your uncle] is actually American ??? Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org> - 2026-06-01 10:12 +1000

#27889 — [Bob's your uncle] is actually American ???

   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, "Bob’s 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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#27891

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, "Bob’s 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 "Bob’s 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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#27894 — Re: [Bob's your uncle] is actually American ???

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 "Bob’s 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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