Where did the phrase bob's your uncle come from?

Answer 1

Well, there's many variations of the story. Some say it came from it comes from a joke where a man claimed he could make his parrot say anything. But when his friends told him to make it say "uncle" it wouldn't. In anger he grabbed the bird by the neck and yelled "Say uncle!" and threw it into a pen of chickens. When he looked in the pen nine of the chickens where dead and the parrot was standing over it saying "Say uncle!" But that joke is just one of the many stories given as an answer. Another theory is it was derived from the old Irish word "Anapole" (I'm not too sure on the spelling) Which means mercy. This theory was spawned when Irish settlers with nothing better to do would beat each other up for fun until the other cried "Anapole" or mercy. That's my two cents on the matter. But as I've said before, there's many stories.

Answer 2

it goes back to the 1880's when Lord Salisbury, the Prime Minister gave a political job in Ireland to Arthur Balfour. Lord Salisbury was known to Arthur Balfour as 'Uncle Bob'. Lord Salisbury had given a job to a member of his family. The public became aware of this so the words 'Bobs your Uncle' became a sarcastic comment. Later when the words passed into common usage in the English language they came to mean "you've got it made - easy - that's great"

Answer 3

The phrase "say uncle" means to force some one to say the word "uncle", which means in that circumstance "Enough!" or "I give up." One possible origin of this usage, reported by William and Mary Morris in the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, goes back to ancient Rome. There, it is said, when a Roman youngster got into trouble, he would yell "Patrue mi patruissime", which means "Uncle, my best of uncles."

Answer 4

"Bob's your uncle" is a British phrase that refers to something being simply accomplished. The origin is said to come from the late 1800s, a high ranking British politician appointing a relative to a very important job. The way he got it so easily was that "Bob was his uncle. "

Answer 5

Bob's your uncle - You have the answer.

I'll be a monkey's uncle/cousin - wow I was not expecting that!

Answer 6

It's from the Irish word 'anacol' meaning mercy.