Bob's Your Uncle

Nickey: “Sheila, thank you for saving us from that jerk out there. I was really scared.”
Sheila: “Most of these guys are posers. One good kick, knock the wind out of ‘em, and Bob’s your uncle.”
Nickey: “What’s that?” Sheila: “It’s just an expression we have. Sort of like ‘There ya go,’ except we say ‘Bob’s your uncle’.”
Nickey: “I was about to ask how you knew that I had an Uncle Bob.” Sheila: “Don’t everybody?”

No one’s entirely sure where or how the phrase “Bob’s your uncle” came from, although the most popular theory appears to be that it started when a Conservative party Prime Minister named Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (the “Bob” in question), made the political appointment of his nephew, Arthur Balfour, as Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1887 — a rather cushy assignment that was so clearly an act of nepotism as to be immensely unpopular. If “Bob’s your uncle,” everything was fine. The closest I ever got was to have my friend Bob G, a kindly big bear of a guy, who gets a friendly paw-wave and a hope that all’s well in his world.

Chapter

  • Sheila and Nicky

Location

  • Around Town

Characters

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Older Comments (Closed for Reply)

Darevenin
October 29, 2020, 7:16 pm
Am I the only one here who have two Thierry as uncles?