Chapter BOBACHEE CONNAH to BOMBAY of B by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

BOBACHEE CONNAH to BOMBAY

BOBACHEE CONNAH, s. H. Bawarchi-khana, ‘Cook-house,’ i.e. Kitchen; generally in a cottage detached from the residence of a European household.

[1829.—“In defiance of all Bawurcheekhana rules and regulations.”—Or. Sport Mag., i. 118.]

BOBBERY, s. For the origin see BOBBERY-BOB. A noise, a disturbance, a row. [1710.—“And beat with their hand on the mouth, making a certain noise, which we Portuguese call babare. Babare is a word composed of baba, ‘a child’ and are, an adverb implying ‘to call.’ ”—Oriente Conquistado, vol ii.; Conquista, i. div. i. sec. 8.]

1830.—“When the band struck up (my Arab) was much frightened, made bobbery, set his foot in a hole and nearly pitched me.”—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 2nd ed., 106.

1866.—“But what is the meaning of all this bobbery?”—The Dawk Bungalow, p. 387.

Bobbery is used in ‘pigeon English,’ and of course a Chinese origin is found for it, viz. pa-pi, Cantonese, ‘a noise.’ [The idea that there is a similar English word (see 7 ser. N. & Q., v. 205, 271, 338, 415, 513) is rejected by the N.E.D.]

BOBBERY-BOB! interj. The Anglo-Indian colloquial representation of a common exclamation of Hindus when in surprise or grief—‘Bap-re! or Bap-re Bap,’ ‘O Father!’ (we have known a friend from north of Tweed whose ordinary interjection was ‘My great-grandmother!’). Blumenroth’s Philippine Vocabulary gives Nacú! = Madre mia, as a vulgar exclamation of admiration.

1782.—“Captain Cowe being again examined … if he had any opportunity to make any observations concerning the execution of Nundcomar? said, he had; that he saw the whole except the immediate act of execution … there were 8 or 10,000 people assembled; who at the moment the Rajah was turned off, dispersed suddenly, crying ‘Ah-bauparee!’ leaving nobody about the gallows but the Sheriff and his attendants, and a few European spectators. He explains the term Ah-baup-aree, to be an exclamation of the black people, upon the appearance of anything very alarming, and when they are in great pain.”—Price’s 2nd Letter to E. Burke, p. 5. In Tracts, vol. ii.

„ “If an Hindoo was to see a house on fire, to receive a smart slap on the face, break a china basin, cut his finger, see two Europeans boxing, or a sparrow shot, he would call out Ah-baup-aree!”—From Report of Select Committee of H. of C., Ibid. pp. 9–10.

1834.—“They both hastened to the spot, where the man lay senseless, and the syce by his side muttering Bapre bapre.”—The Baboo, i. 48.

1863-64.—“My men soon became aware of the unwelcome visitor, and raised the cry, ‘A bear, a bear!’

“Ahi! bap-re-bap! Oh, my father! go and drive him away,’ said a timorous voice from under a blanket close by.”—Lt.-Col. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel, 142.

BOBBERY-PACK, s. A pack of hounds of different breeds, or (oftener) of no breed at all, wherewith young officers hunt jackals or the like; presumably so called from the noise and disturbance that such a pack are apt to raise. And hence a ‘scratch pack’ of any kind, as a ‘scratch match’ at cricket, &c. (See a quotation under BUNOW.)

1878.—“… on the mornings when the ‘bobbera’ pack went out, of which Macpherson was ‘master,’ and I ‘whip,’ we used to be up by 4 A.M.”—Life in the Mofussil, i. 142.

The following occurs in a letter received from an old Indian by one of the authors, some years ago: “What a Cabinet—has put together! —a regular bobbery-pack.”

BOCCA TIGRIS, n.p. The name applied to the estuary of the Canton River. It appears to be an inaccurate reproduction of the Portuguese Boca do Tigre, and that to be a rendering of the Chinese name Hu- men, “Tiger Gate.” Hence in the second quotation Tigris is supposed to be the name of the river.

1747.—“At 8 o’clock we passed the Bog of Tygers, and at noon the Lyon’s Tower.”— A Voy. to the E. Indies in 1747 and 1748.

1770.—“The City of Canton is situated on the banks of the Tigris, a large river. …”—Raynal (tr. 1771), ii. 258.

1782.—“.… à sept lieues de la bouche du Tigre, on apperçoit la Tour du Lion.”— Sonnerat, Voyage, ii. 234.

[1900.—“The launch was taken up the Canton River and abandoned near the Bocca Tigris (the Bogue).”—The Times, 29 Oct.]