All is bob, phr. (old).—All's safe; 'serene'; 'gay.' For synonyms, see OK.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. [All's bob is defined as foregoing.]
1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 12. A moment afterwards, the street was illumined by a blaze of torchlight, and a tumultuous uproar announced the arrival of the first detachment of Minters. Mr. Wood rushed instantly to meet them. 'Hurrah!' shouted he, waving his hat triumphantly over his head. 'Saved !' 'Ay, ay, it's all bob, my covey! You're safe enough, that's certain!' responded the Minters.
Bear a bob! phr. (common).—Be brisk! look sharp!
Bob a nod, phr. (common.)—A shilling a head. [From bob, slang for shilling, + nod, the head.]
To give the bob, phr. (old).—To give the door. An old term used by Massinger—'It can be no other but to give me the bob.'
S'help me bob, phr. (low).—A street oath, equivalent to 'So help me God'; a corrupted form of the legal oath. 'So help' is pronounced swelp. There are several variants, such as S'help the cat—my greens—the taturs, etc.
1837. Barham, I. L. (Dead Drummer). For his jaw-work would never, I'm sure,
s'elp me bob, Have come for to go for to do sich a job!
1880. Jas. Payn, Confid. Agent, ch. xix. 'Not another word will I say, s'help me bob.' And John rolled over in his bed like an indignant porpoise.
To shift one's bob, phr. (common).—To go away. Cf., Bobbing around, 'to go expeditiously from place to place.'
Bobber, subs, (common).—I. A
fellow - workman; mate; or
'chum' (q.v. for synonyms).
1860. W. White, Round Wrekin, 34. Bobber being the equivalent of chum. [M.]
1871. Daily News, May 19. As he sells these, the buyers or their bobbers carry them off. [m.]
2. A spurious plural of bob (q.v.) = a shilling.
Bobbery, subs. (popular).—A noise;
squabble; disturbance; or 'racket.'
[An Anglo-Indian representation
of B[=a]p re! O father!
a common exclamation of surprise
or grief.—Yule. Murray
thinks the evidence for its origination
in India is decisive, other
plausible derivations to the contrary
notwithstanding.] The
first of the following quotations
shows an earlier use by thirteen
years than that given by the
New English Dictionary.
1803. Kenney, Raising the Wind, II., i. If I don't go back, and kick up such a bobbery—
1833. Marryat, Peter Simple, ch. ii. I'll bet a wager there'll be a bobbery in the pigsty before long, for they are ripe for mischief.
1836. Marryat, Midshipman Easy, ch. xix. 'I can do nothing but there's a bobbery at the bottom of it.'
1879. Punch, 17 May, 227. I might in quiet hold my own, And not go kicking Up a bobbery. [m.]
Bobbish, adj. (common).—Frequently pretty bobbish, i.e., hearty; in good health and spirits; clever; spruce. -Cf., Bob, adj. So also bobbishly, adv.
1819. Scott, in Lockhart, xliv (1842), 394. I trust you will find me pretty bobbish, [m.]
1857. Dickens, The Detective Police, in Reprinted Pieces, p. 247. 'Halloa, Butcher! is that you?' 'Yes, it's me, How do you find yourself?' 'Bobbish,' he says.
1860. Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. iv., p. 13. Every Christmas Day, he retorted, as he now retorted, 'It's no
