Skip to Content
go to EasyEnglish
English Club : Learn English : Vocabulary
Vocabulary : Slang : Y : yob | yobbo

< Previous | Next >

yob | yobbo British English Offensive

Meaning: an aggressive, impolite, crude person

For example:

  • Be careful if you go to a pub on Friday or Saturday night. The yobs will be out and lots of them will be looking for a fight.

  • Lots of yobbos travel to places like Spain and Greece and get drunk, behave badly, and damage the image of Britain and the British.

Note: usually used as an insult, so calling someone a yob or a yobbo can be dangerous

Origin: first appeared in mid-19th century British English and believed to have been derived from spelling "boy" backwards

Variety: This slang is typically used in British English but may be used in other varieties of English too.

Quick Quiz:

Yobs are known to really enjoy
  1. reading poetry and gardening
  2. knitting and doing crosswords
  3. drinking alcohol and fighting

Discuss: yob | yobbo

Slang of the Day

This entry is in the following categories:

go to ESLDepot