bob's your uncle
Preserved but no longer current.
In other words, "That'll be all right; you needn't bother any more." The origin of the phrase is unknown; it was certainly in use in the 1880s, but no satisfactory explanation of who "Bob" was has been brought forward.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “bob's your uncle” mean?
In other words, "That'll be all right; you needn't bother any more." The origin of the phrase is unknown; it was certainly in use in the 1880s, but no satisfactory explanation of who "Bob" was has been brought forward.
Is “bob's your uncle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.