Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A rowdy, aggressive, or violent young man.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun pejorative, chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang A person who engages in antisocial behavior/behaviour and/or drunkenness.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a cruel and brutal fellow

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of boy (spelled backward).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Backslang for boy.

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Examples

  • In Arabic "koss ummak", in Russian "yob tvoyu mat'", in Italian "figlio di puttana" which insults your mother indirectly, as does the very common Anglo-American "son of a bitch" are all extremely common.

    languagehat.com: CHINESE SWEARING. 2005

  • The disorder of the so-called yob-culture is the direct result of deliberate social engineering and meddling by the "Socialist/Liberal" ex-hippies and Marxist lecturers and their gaggle of "human rights" lawyers that squat in the Halls of Power.

    The Case for Civil War in Britain... Lionheart 2007

  • No matter how easy it may be to point to the yobs or point to the so-called yob dogs, it is NOT these dogs who are killing people.

    Dog Magazine dot net - Home of K9 Magazine 2009

  • Back in March Chris lost his job and just started his new job (or "yob" as the Latinos say) yesterday.

    You Win Some, You Lose Some Lauren Thomas 2008

  • As I said in my blog at ToryBoy.org I am not fluent in "yob" thus most of the shouting made little sense to me!

    Labour Bully Boy Tactics in Sedgefield 2007

  • Tony Blair will chair the first meeting of the cabinet committee on antisocial behaviour to end a turf war between ministers who are battling for control of the "yob" agenda.

    Archive 2005-05-01 Garry 2005

  • Senior officers have described the new initiative as an "Al Capone" approach to so-called yob behaviour".

    Archive 2006-10-01 2006

  • = $_POST [ 'yob']; $cur_year = 2010; $firstname = $_POST [ 'firstname']

    CodingForums.com iatemyleash 2010

  • Mail Online UK Have-a-go father who stabbed teenage 'yob' five times will not face court

    BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition 2010

  • Think about it, if you confiscate my dog today because I'm a 'yob' with a 'yob-dog' then I'll have another dog in my hands by this evening - and what happens to my original dog?

    Dog Magazine dot net - Home of K9 Magazine 2009

Comments

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  • Boy in reverse.

    November 3, 2007

  • yob is "boy" spelled backwards

    July 14, 2009