Bobby

Bobby (noun / UK slang)

Definition: A police officer. Old-school, friendly name for a constable walking the pavement in uniform.

Pronunciation: /ˈbɒb.i/ (bob-ee)

Where It Comes From: Sir Robert Peel founded London’s Metropolitan Police back in 1829. People started calling the new coppers “Bobbies” and “Peelers” after him. Peeler died off, but Bobby stuck for two hundred years.

How People Actually Use It: Mostly comes out when folk are moaning that you never see police walking around town anymore—”a bobby on the beat.”

Nobody runs from the law yelling “the bobbies are coming.” It’s what older folk say, or what you read in local newspapers when people want more patrols down their road. Proper polite, tea-and-biscuits sort of word.

Examples in the Wild:

• “Used to see a bobby walking down our high street every morning, never see them now.”

  Translation: “There used to be foot patrols here all the time.”

• “Go ask that bobby over by the clock tower for directions.”

  Translation: “Ask that police officer where to go.”

• “Town centre needs a few bobbies on a Friday night to keep things calm.”

  Translation: “We need visible police out when the pubs shut.”

Similar Slang: Copper, Old Bill, Plod, Rozzer, The fuzz