nobber

nobber

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɒbə(ɹ)

Etymology

In the sense of "fool, idiot" likely a variant of nobhead.

Noun

nobber (plural nobbers)

1. A blow on the head.
   • 1840, Henry Downes Miles, Dick Turpin, T. White, page 119:

     She put her hand mechanically to the back of her head. "Ay, ay," said he, seeing the blood, “it was a nobber. I'll doctor it though: here; Sam, some water; let's see what harm's done." He was just going to wash the head of Madge , when his attention was called off by the exclamations of the ...

   • 1880, Henry Downes Miles, Pugilistica: Being One Hundred and Forty-four Years of the History of British Boxing, Weldon & Company, page 8:

     Spring went in, and planted a nobber that sent Carter down like a log.

   • 1967, A. Lawrance Holmes, More Than a Game, Macmillan, page 170:

     He had received what Egan would have called a "ribber" and a "nobber," and when he arose it was seen that the latter had raised a cut on his forehead.

2. (Britain, derogatory) fool, idiot
   • 2010, Marc Wilder, Superyacht X-Rated, Kings Road Publishing, →ISBN:

     Jock, I hate to have to tell you this, mate, but you slaughtered a perfectly healthy hound. A whippet is like a miniature greyhound and they're used for dog racing on the track or chasing hares and rabbits in fields. They are meant to be lean, you nobber!

   • 2014, Bryony Gordon, The Wrong Knickers - A Decade of Chaos, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     Mum, if a bloke is intimidated by me because I happen to have the good fortune to have a job, then he is probably a complete nobber anyway.' 'Don't talk that way, Bryony, it's so coarse and unladylike!

   • 2014, Pat Kinevane, Silent and Forgotten‎, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 19:

     Pisspot was bangin her all along, and she curlin and filin and buffin herself for the Garda with the bag of urine. Had no idea! He's at her grave every mornin at six before duty with daisies and shit – the nobber!

   • 2016, Anna Maxted, Getting Over It‎, Random House, →ISBN, page 266:

     Shut your mouth you nobber or I'll stick that table up your fucking pooh hole.

   • 2018, Simon Farrant, Newdon Killers Box Set: Books 1 -3 plus bonus short story‎, Farrant Fiction, →ISBN:

     'Eat your heart out, Jenson Button!' shouted Dean as he yanked the steering wheel of his blue fifteen-year-old Ford Mondeo to the left. 'SHIT!' shouted James as he flinched and curled into a ball. 'You are such a nobber,' Dean yelled as the Mondeo flew out of the bend, waving his hand with exuberance to push his point home.

3. (Britain) security guard
   • 2014, Lynn Viehl, Disenchanted & Co., Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 61:

     “I'm sure they'd pass her a note from you, as long as it's got a Yard seal and has been sprayed for nits. Not like you're a nobber, right?” Doyle shook his head.

   • 2017, Jenny T. Colgan, Spandex and the City, Hachette UK, →ISBN, page 49:

     Was he a nobber?' 'He's not a nobber,' said DuTroy from the corner. 'He might be a nobber,' I said. 'I don't know him well enough.' 'What's he like with the mask off?' I paused. For a long time. Gertie was my best friend in the entire world.

4. (slang) blowjob
   • 2002, Craig Brass, How to Quit Golf: A 12-Step Program, Penguin Group, →ISBN, page 129:

     Puttering. At some point you're going to end up on the green. Even if you have to yell, “Hey look, everybody, the pro's getting a nobber from the beverage babe over there in the woods,” and throw the ball on the green while everyone turns his or her head.

5. assistent
   • 1894, California State Mining Bureau, Report of the State Mineralogist - Issue 12, State Office, page 47:

     As soon as he has sufficient coal picked loose to make it inconvenient he shovels it into the end of the chute; here it is taken charge of by a boy (called a nobber), who works it down the chute.

   • 1980, California Division of Mines and Geology, California Geology, page 57:

     The work was commonly done by a mining team consisting of an experienced miner and an assistant, usually a young boy, known as a nobber.

   • 2001, George Orwell, Orwell and the Dispossessed‎, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

     The trouble is, the beggars scatter as soon as you turn round with the hat. You really want a nobber [assistant] at this game. You keep at work and get a crowd watching you, and the nobber comes casual-like round the back of them. They don't know he's the nobber.

   • 2008, Howell Davies, Congratulate the Devil‎, Summersdale Publishers, →ISBN, page 189:

     'Want a nobber, mate, to help you?' 'A nobber's no good here,' said the man. 'I can collect the clods myself.'

6. • 1988, World Fishing, IPC Industrial Press, page 19:

     Other units are optionally available to add on to the head cutting machine, including a nobber and eviscerator and a sectioning device.

7. • 1880, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 128, J. Mason, page 224:

     In about twenty minutes, a nobber, which had been driven out of the herd, came slyly back, hoping not to be noticed. The master of the hinds, however, soon saw him, and at once rose, looking angrily at the small intruder, and offering his whole fair broadside to the rifle.

8. • 1980, Michael Curtin, The Self-made Men, A. Deutsch, page 39:

     The father eased himself a dozen yards away from them and, leaning against the wall, put two fingers in his top pocket in pursuit of a nobber. He kept nobbers in his top pocket or in his matchbox but never on his ear. He knew of a man, his own father, who died because of a nobber on his ear.