Yobbo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yobbo or yob is a slang term for an uncouth blue collar individual or thug. The word derives from a back-slang reading of the word "boy" (boy or boyo reversed becomes yob or — slightly modified — yobbo).
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[edit] Britain
In Britain, as the word 'yob' came out of the London back-slang and into more general English usage, it and latterly, 'yobbo' have meant 'working class, adolescent, male person'. Within his own culture, he was not necessarily seen as uncouth, though a person writing about him rather than speaking of him was likely to be of another social class and prone to seeing him as loutish.
Dr. Onions of the Oxford English Dictionary seems not to have noticed the word before he published the XYZ section of the dictionary in 1921 but the later supplement notes the use of 'yob' as meaning 'boy' in the working-class youth context, from 1859. This implies that the word had by that stage, come out from the back-slang argot into ordinary English usage. In the dictionary supplement's references, it is possible to detect a slow drift in the word's meaning, towards the 'ruffian' interpretation, the new emphasis becoming clear from about 1927.
'Yobbo' appears from 1922 when its meaning does not clearly emphasize the ruffian. Its meaning drifts clearly towards the 'ruffian' interpretation by 1956, though a reference of 1938 calls a yobbo a 'street rough'.
[edit] Australia
The word 'yob' is likely to have reached Australia as part of back-slang, in the early nineteenth century, before it entered openly into English. Between the Napoleonic Wars and the 1850s there was much emigration from the poorer parts of London to the new settlements, whether as transportation or as semi-voluntary economic migration.
Today, within Australia, and to a lesser extent New Zealand, the term is used by a subsection of the community to describe themselves. The characteristics of these yobbos are heavy drinking, possibly to the point of alcoholism, low intelligence, fashionably ignorant (usually wearing thongs/sandals and cheap t-shirts and shorts) and usually a fan of Rugby League, Australian football, Cricket or V8 Supercars. It is through conduct at these sporting activities that the term has gained connotations of hooliganism.
The term is considered to be an insult by most, but some consider being a yobbo as part of an "authentic" Australian lifestyle. It implies more contempt than the term "Bogan", with which it shares attributes.
In March 2005, several bar owners announced they will no longer be serving Bundaberg Rum as they believed its drinkers were yobbos who abused bar staff and other patrons. Bundaberg fought back to fend off a reputation of being a drink for yobbos.[citation needed]
[edit] Reference
- Burchfield, R.W. ed. The Oxford English Dictionary. (1987) ISBN 0-19-861211-7
