English yobs

[Deiter]

I'm an American who watches your BBC reports with interest. Whenever there are stories about soccer, what do they mean by yobs?

[hynzy]

football (soccer :) hooligans, people who are violent or anti-social. ie the ones who get drunk and start riots on the streets.

[dpark]

Are they not just backward boys?

[SRAYN1]

A yob is a hooligan ' and badly-behaved, often violent, youngster ' usually a man. The word 'yob' is 'backslang' for boy ' ie it's spelled backwards. The purpose of backslang was primarily as a means of secret communication for street gangs active in Victorian times. Here's an example of how it would have been used by pickpockets. A 'looker' would notice a 'gent' with a gold watch in his left waistcoat pocket. He would inform the 'nudger' and 'lifter' of this, by saying to them: 'Lda enta eda opheta olda atcha efta aistcoata', translated to 'Old gent red tophat gold watch left waistcoat'. Why didn't they send 'em an e-mail or just whisper?

[Vendetta]

England supporters in general: lagered up beer bellied troglodytes (no offence).