I just found out I’m guaranteed success! I always found this saying to be funny since I could relate. I couldn’t take it any longer and decided to look up what it meant along with its origin. Apparently, Bob’s Your Uncle means you have it made, or you’re “all set.”
Bob’s Your Uncle Wikipedia Entry
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Bob’s your uncle is a commonly-used expression known mainly in Britain, Ireland and Commonwealth countries. It is often used immediately following a set of simple instructions and carries roughly the same meaning as the phrase “and there you have it”; for example, “Simply put a piece of ham between two slices of bread, and Bob’s your uncle.” Want to know the deep seeded secrets on the past history of this saying?
Bob’s Your Uncle Etymology
In 1887, British Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, appointed his nephew Arthur James Balfour as Minister for Ireland. The press had a field day when he referred to the Prime Minister as “Uncle Bob”.[1] Balfour later went on to become Prime Minister himself.
This theory claims that to have “Bob” as one’s uncle is a guarantee of success, hence the implied meaning, “and if you do this, you cannot fail.” Use of the phrase is not recorded until 1937, however, and, although the Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English suggests the phrase has been in use since the 1890s,[2] there is no known example in print predating the entry.[3]
Another theory is that the phrase derives from the slang “all is bob”, which means “everything is good”.[4]
Another suggestion (The Times, 18/2/1972) was that the reference was to a shilling (nicknamed “bob”) and a pawnbroker (nicknamed “uncle”).
Bob’s Your Uncle Usage
In some places in Britain, “Bob’s your uncle” is also a way of saying “you’re all set” or “you’ve got it made!” and is used as an expression of jubilation at good fortune. Hence it is used in the Alastair Sim film Scrooge, a version of the classic Dickens’ story, A Christmas Carol, where a reformed Ebenezer Scrooge confronts his housekeeper, Mrs. Dilber, on Christmas morning. He gives her a Guinea (£1.05 in that era, and equivalent to about $100 today) as a Christmas present, and announces he will significantly raise her salary. In a burst of excitement the housekeeper responds, “Bob’s yer uncle! Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge, in keeping with the situation!”[5]. However, this may be an anachronism, as the Christmas Carol was first published by Dickens in 1843 and the expression could not have been in use prior to 1890. Another explanation is that its origin lies in General (later, Field Martial) Fredrich Roberts. He was trusted and liked by his men who used to call him Uncle Bobs.They would say on campaign, everything will be fine cause bobs your uncle.
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The More You Know…