yob

See also: YOB, YoB, Y.O.B., and Y. O. B.

English

WOTD – 2 August 2010

Etymology

Backslang for boy. The second sense was likely influenced by hobnob and/or yokel.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: yŏb, IPA^(key): /jɒb/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒb

Noun

yob (plural yobs)

1. (obsolete, costermongers, back slang) A boy.
   • 1897, A. R. Marshall, Pomes^[sic] from the Pink 'Un, page 76:

     And you bet that each gal, not to mention each yob,
     Didn't care how much ooftish it cost 'em per nob.

   • 2010, Paul R. Wilson, The Birthday of Eternity, page 209:

     As we left the cemetery, I heard an elderly gravedigger muttering back slang to himself before Lucien's headstone. "Bloody shame, ain't it? Doubt the yob did much living by eighteen."
     I corrected the man, saying, “No fear, that yob did plenty of living.”

2. (derogatory, chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) A person who engages in antisocial behaviour or drunkenness.
   • 2005 January 10, Melissa Jackson, “Music to deter yobs by”, in BBC News‎^[1]:
   • 2009 August 8, Janet Daley, “The real reason for all those louts on holiday”, in The Telegraph‎^[2]:

     Yes, it's holiday time again for British yobs – and the rest of us can flee to those parts of Abroad which the louts ignore, or just cringe in shame at home.

   • 2017 March 27, Keiran Southern, “'We could have been killed': Fury at yobs who bricked windscreen with baby girl in car”, in Chronicle Live‎^[3], retrieved 2017-03-28:

     But while doing 70mph on the A1, a hooded yob threw rock^{[sic – meaning a rock]} from a grass verge onto the windscreen of the family’s Jeep, causing it to swerve.

   • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:

     Three local yobs have also joined, but they have not reckoned on a redoubtable Conductor and two local revenue protection officers who soon escort them off the train!

Synonyms

• (boy): See Thesaurus:boy
• (antisocial person):
  • (standard register): hooligan
  • (British): tearaway, chav
  • (chiefly Australian slang): yobbo
  • (Geordie slang): charva
• bully, hooligan, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian

Derived terms

• (antisocial person): yobbish, yobbo

Related terms

• (boy): elrig (“girl”)

Translations

antisocial person

• Bulgarian: хулига́н (bg) m (huligán)
• Catalan: brètol (ca)
• Czech: chuligán (cs) m, vandal (cs) m
• Finnish: renttu (fi)
• French: voyou (fr) m asocial (fr) m, houligan (fr) m, paumé (fr) m, pauv’type m, loubard (fr) m, blouson noir (fr) m, casseur (fr) m
• German: Halbstarker (de) m, Halbstarke (de) f, Rabauke (de) m, Rabaukin (de) f, Rowdy (de) m, Rowdyin f, Randalierer (de) m, Randaliererin (de) f, Hooligan (de) m, Hooliganin f, Hool m, Hoolin f
• Greek: μάγκας (el) m (mágkas)
• Italian: monello (it) m, birichino (it) m
• Russian: хулига́н (ru) m (xuligán), го́пник (ru) m (gópnik)
• Spanish: vándalo (es) m, gamberro (es) m, golfo (es) m, granuja (es) m (Spain), patotero (es) m, hincha (es) m (Peru, River Plate region)
• Swedish: buse (sv) c, bråkstake (sv) c
• Ukrainian: хуліга́н m (xulihán)

Anagrams

• BYO, boy, byo, oby