"Bob's your uncle"

[Gerald Cohen]

  Today (Feb. 11) Barry Popik posted information on "Bob's you uncle,"
which includes:

>1886, ALL THE YEAR ROUND, pg. 521-553, "Uncle Bob's Niece: a story,"
>by L. Keith.

    This may be significant. Alfred Balfour was appointed chief
secretary for Ireland by his uncle Robert (Robert Cecil; = Lord
Salisbury) in 1887. So if a story about an Uncle Bob being good to
his niece existed a year earlier, "Bob's your uncle" might predate
the Balfour appointment.  Maybe the story even contains this phrase.
So the next task is to get ahold of that story and see what it says.

    Of course, even if the phrase did exist prior to 1887, the
appointment would no doubt have given it considerable impetus.

---Gerald