I was reading an English history book the other day, and found out where the expression 'Bob's your uncle' comes from. It's all about nepotism.
Lord Salisbury appointed his own nephew, 'Pretty Fanny' Balfour, to be Chief Sec'y for Ireland. My understanding is that Balfour was something of a Harriet Miers. So if you have Bob for an uncle, 'it's as easy as that' to get something done.
Posted by Discoshaman at novembre 22, 2005 08:04 PM | TrackBack
"Pretty Fanny?!"
:-0
Posted by: cu buffalo 86 at novembre 22, 2005 09:54 PMcu: don't ask.
I wish my uncle's name was Bob.
Posted by: missmellifluous at novembre 23, 2005 03:53 AMMiss-
Heh. Whenever we would ask for something pricey as kids, my dad's response was always, "When my rich uncle gets out of the poor house."
Posted by: Discoshaman at novembre 23, 2005 04:29 AMObviously you needed an uncle Bob too, rather than a rich uncle in a poor house.
I don't think my parents ever said any of those strange things. Their answer was just "No," or "Maybe for Christmas."
However, my uncle, whose name is not Bob, would always say, "[insert name], what do you know?" and the correct response would be, "I know eggs don't bounce, you can't milk an Arrowroot biscuit, steamrollers don't roll steam, and, at the end of every drought it rains." ?????
Posted by: missmellifluous at novembre 23, 2005 04:39 PM