# Bob's Your Uncle



## Havana Brown (Feb 3, 2005)

Hi there Brits. I heard this saying on the telly the other day and wanted to find out what it means. Is it something said often?


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## PaulWilkinsUK (Mar 20, 2006)

Hi there
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bob1.htm
Perhaps this might help. Yup, we use it all the time here.

A better version might be "Robert is your fathers brother" ! Hee Hee Hee


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## Havana Brown (Feb 3, 2005)

Thank you Paul. I heard it on a cooking show and I thought it may have meant "bon appettite, buen provecho," type of thing.


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## SeanC (Dec 30, 2003)

I looked this up earlier this year on Wikipedia.

So my basic understanding is it is derived from nepotism but has come to mean "this should be easy." Just as getting a job from your uncle would be.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

PaulWilkinsUK said:


> A better version might be "Robert is your fathers brother"!


And, in my case at least, that is* actually true (*Or was. I think he may have died. We don't have much contact with my father's family )

(One to transfer to 'UK General Chat" I think, mr moderator )


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## Havana Brown (Feb 3, 2005)

cwaring said:


> (One to transfer to 'UK General Chat" I think, mr moderator )


Awwww craaaaap!!!!

My bad (American saying  ) Didn't know y'all had your own Happy Hour.


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## Rob Nespor Bellis (Feb 17, 2001)

And being a Robert ( or Bob but more commonly Rob  ) I am an uncle to two nephews.......

Rgds,

R.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Havana Brown said:


> Awwww craaaaap!!!!


Yep. I use that one a lot 



> My bad (American saying )


Yeah. Use that one too. Unfortunately, the usual response over here is "your bad what?"


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Havana Brown said:


> Hi there Brits. I heard this saying on the telly the other day and wanted to find out what it means. Is it something said often?


Havana,

But you have yet to enquire what it is about we strange Brits that means we have no UK women of our own who are regular participants in our UK forum.

There was a UK woman a year or two who made a few posts about her Tivo but then vanished. But she always stands out in my memory because she has basically been the only one.

We often hear from male UK Tivo owners that "The Wife" or SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) loves Tivo and regards it as the best and most friendly gadget hubby ever bought but strangely none of these female Tivo users ever seem to post here in their own right.

This is either a sad commentary on the backward state of the United Kingdom regarding equality of the sexes or equally possible is that because Tivo only sold 30,000 units here and did almost no mainstream marketing (especially not marketing that was comprehensible to or appealing to females) that this is why UK Tivo boxes are almost exclusively in the hands of male techno gadget geeks such as myself? 

Where do you live in Washington DC by the way? I lived there long ago in 1982 for 6 months working as an intern in the US Congress and during my time there lived first out in McLean, Virginia with family friends for a month, then in South West DC near the harbour for 3 months or so and then finally up on Florida Avenue near its intersection with Connecticut Avenue and not far from Dupont Circle. Where abouts in DC do you live?


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## Havana Brown (Feb 3, 2005)

Pete77 said:


> We often hear from male UK Tivo owners that "The Wife" of SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed)


Bwwwahahahahah, that's so spot on! 

As for not having women in your Brit forum, I dunno. I usually hang out in the [American] Happy Hour. I don't understand most of the techno-geeky stuff that goes on in the other forums.

I don't live in DC. It's soooo expensive. I live in Virginia and commute to the capital like most people. It's a living I guess.

Cheerio!


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Havana Brown said:


> As for not having women in your Brit forum, I dunno. I usually hang out in the [American] Happy Hour. I don't understand most of the techno-geeky stuff that goes on in the other forums.


8,086 posts seems a lot to have clocked up just in Happy Hour.

What's your theory as to why most women don't understand/seem to be interested in all the "techno-geeky stuff"?


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