yob en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Backslang for boy. The second sense was likely influenced by hobnob and/or yokel.
Meanings
-
(obsolete, qualifier:costermongers; back slang; costermongers; back slang) A boy.
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.”
2010, Paul R. Wilson, The Birthday of Eternity, page 209:And you bet that each gal, not to mention each yob, Didn't care how much ooftish it cost 'em per nob.
1897, A. R. Marshall, Pomes^([sic]) from the Pink 'Un, page 76:
-
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang) A person who engages in antisocial behaviour or drunkenness.
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!
2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57: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.
2009 August 8, Janet Daley, “The real reason for all those louts on holiday”, in The Telegraph: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.
2017 March 27, Keiran Southern, “'We could have been killed': Fury at yobs who bricked windscreen with baby girl in car”, in Chronicle Live, retrieved 28 Mar 2017:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| yobs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Deriveds
yobette (antisocial person) · yobbish (antisocial person) · yobbo (antisocial person)
Relateds
elrig (boy)
Synonyms
roughneck · yobbo (antisocial person) · hooligan · chav (antisocial person) · charva (antisocial person) · tearaway (antisocial person) · bully · ruffian · rowdy · boy (boy) · hooligan (antisocial person; standard register)
Translations (39)
de Hooligan (antisocial person) · cs vandal (antisocial person) · bg хулига́н (antisocial person) · de Halbstarke (antisocial person) · fr casseur (antisocial person) · el μάγκας (antisocial person) · de Hooliganin (antisocial person) · fr paumé (antisocial person) · sv buse (antisocial person) · fr houligan (antisocial person) · es hincha (antisocial person) · cs chuligán (antisocial person) · it monello (antisocial person) · de Hoolin (antisocial person) · ca brètol (antisocial person) · fr voyou m asocial (antisocial person) · it birichino (antisocial person) · es golfo (antisocial person) · ru хулига́н (antisocial person) · sv bråkstake (antisocial person) · es vándalo (antisocial person) · de Rabaukin (antisocial person) · es gamberro (antisocial person) · fr blouson noir (antisocial person) · de Halbstarker (antisocial person) · fi renttu (antisocial person) · de Hool (antisocial person) · de Rowdyin (antisocial person) · pl chuligan (antisocial person) · fr loubard (antisocial person) · ru го́пник (antisocial person) · fr pauv'type (antisocial person) · es granuja (antisocial person) · de Randalierer (antisocial person) · uk хуліга́н (antisocial person) · de Rowdy (antisocial person) · de Randaliererin (antisocial person) · de Rabauke (antisocial person) · es patotero (antisocial person)