Bob’s your uncle

The origin of ‘Bob’s your uncle’ sparks debates between etymologists to this day. There is no controversy over its meaning, which is ‘everything is perfect’ or ‘there you have it’, usually after making a pronouncement of some sort. Its origin, however, has not been resolved beyond doubt. A popular explanation of its origin derives from the alleged nepotism of Lord Robert (Bob) Salisbury, who served two terms as Prime Minister of Britain from 1886-1892 and from 1895-1902. In 1902, he was succeeded as prime minister by his nephew Arthur Balfour. Hence, the meaning that everything is just perfect if one happens to have such an influential uncle as Lord ‘Bob’ Salisbury. There is no doubt that Arthur Balfour was a favourite of his uncle and occupied many important government posts while his uncle was prime minister. The story is not the problem, but the timing is. The expression, ‘Bob’s your uncle’ is first attested from 1924 when it appeared as the title of a musical revue in Dundee of all places. From this, one can assume it was in the spoken language for a while before this. Arthur Balfour was still alive then. He died in 1930, but there seems to be no attested or reported association between him and the expression, satirical or otherwise. One would have thought that Punch Magazine in particular would not have passed up such an opportunity to have a dig at a politician. This gives credence to the alternative theory that the expression has nothing to do with nepotism between Lord Robert Salisbury and his nephew Arthur Balfour, and that it in fact derives from a much earlier expression ‘everything is Bob’ or ‘all is Bob’ meaning, everything is alright, which dates from the late 18th century. ‘Uncle’ on its own refers to a rich or influential relative and also dates in this sense from around the same time. Therefore, putting these two together one could arrive at ‘Bob’s your uncle’ but, again, the date is the problem. Why the expression was only first attested from 1924 remains a mystery. It is interesting to note that Eric Partridge subscribes to the theory that ‘Bob’s your uncle’ derives from ‘all is Bob’ and cites c. 1890 as its first appearance, but gives no further evidence. Until more convincing evidence is to hand, the nepotism of Lord Salisbury remains extremely dubious as an explanation of its origin, whereas the simple combination of ‘Bob’ meaning right or perfect and ‘uncle’ meaning a rich or influential relative, seems the more probable explanation. In the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian, set in the Napoleonic Wars, one of O’Brian’s characters uses the expression ‘Bob’s your uncle’ (Post Captain Harper Collins paperback edition 2002, p.291.) .This constitutes a rare anachronism from this author who is otherwise renowned for the accuracy of his characters’ language. See also True as Bob.