G'Day,

Does anybody out there know the origin of the Australia colloquialism "dob". It's meaning is defined in the Macquarie dictionary as

"dob, dobbed, dobbing- colloquial expression to betray, report (someone)."

I feel that it may be related to date of birth - d.o.b.

Any ideas?

Cheers Mate,
Bruce.

Wasn't there a Monty Python sketch where the lads all played Aussies named Bruce? (sorry, that was no help at all; but it *was what leaped to mind....)

I seem to recall that they were all Doctors of Philosophy as well. (DOP in - to inform on someone ontologically?)

OED,

Maybe it derives from "Do One Bad" or "Badly", i.e. to do one a bad turn such as inform or betray, much like we say "she did him dirt".

--Jeff

Yes, the Monty Python sketch was about the staff of the Philosophy Department at the University of Sydney, which was in a tent, who were all indeed named Bruce. They all wore slouch hats and sang as they downed their tinnies of Fosters: 'Rene Descartes was a silly old fart,I drink, therefore I am."

Bruce also calls to mind a Kingsley Amis? character, an Australian in London, who was known as 'Call Me Cobber'.

Eric Partridge says that the Australian use of 'dob' is ex the English dialectal word 'dob' - to put down heavily, to throw down.

As we've been divagating right from the start, I feel I can tell you that my mind has wandered from dob to DOB to DOP to dap (which is rather apropos, dap having the sense of skipping a stone off the surface of a lake). One spot where I encountered undertow was the acronym idea, as pertains to these forums (fora?) DOB doesn't do much for me (Disambiguation of Bumf?) but DOP....

Daily Obnoxious Post
Difference of Perception
Department of Pleonasm

-tsuwm
DOP Dept.
Iowa City, IA

Hey, Michael!
Thanks for the definition of dapping. (Scoped your profile just now). Humbuggery I can guess at. Does 'verbicide' mean you murder words? And does your first verb in your post imply that divas have been committing Watergate-type crimes? What about fori in place of forums? :-)

>>Humbuggery I can guess at. Does 'verbicide' mean you murder words? And does your first verb in your post imply that divas have been committing Watergate-type crimes? What about fori in place of forums? <<

No; perhaps we should have some concern regarding your guess?!

a bird watcher once pointed out to me that certain carrier pigeons are given dobious 'nick'names

then again, game lovers in other places enjoy receiving anonymous 'dips'; in other words, a little mysterious help from the dop greatly enhances one's chances at winning

In South Africa, the word "DOP" is a colloquialism for a tot of spirits.

Drink or Perish?

Thank you, David. You have made an old man very happy. The term must surely derive from "Double Over Proof" and I'll subscribe to that! In spades!