Bob’s Your Uncle: Origin and Meaning

This phrase is used to mean that something will be very quick or easy to do. It is often put at the end of a set of instructions and is similar in meaning to “it’s as simple as that!” or “and that’s it!”.

The actual origin of this idiom is unknown but most people believe that it came from England in the 1880s. The Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, appointed his nephew Arthur Balfour to the post of Chief Secretary for Ireland. Balfour was an unpopular man so most people were very surprised and thought that the only reason he was appointed was because his uncle was the Prime Minister. Lord Salisbury’s actual name was Robert and a nickname for Robert is ‘Bob’. Therefore, the phrase ‘Bob’s your uncle’ was created to mean ‘success is guaranteed’.

“Put a tea bag into the cup, boil water, pour the water in the cup, leave for 3 minutes, take out the tea bag and add milk and sugar. Bob’s your uncle – a cup of traditional English tea!”

“Just click this icon, enter the password and Bob’s your uncle – you’ll be connected to WiFi!”

Stranger 1: “Excuse me, do you know how I can get to the station from here?”
Stranger 2: “Of course. Continue walking straight, take the 3rd street on the right, and Bob’s your uncle!”