"job's a good 'un" meaning in English

See job's a good 'un in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

IPA: /ˌdʒɒbz ə ˈɡʊd(ə)n/ [UK]
Etymology: Attested in 1968, but probably popularised by footballer Robbie Fowler who, after scoring four goals in a Premier League match against Middlesbrough on 14 December 1996, revealed a T-shirt with the phrase written on it in marker pen. He explained to the press that it was Happy Mondays percussionist Bez's catchphrase in his segment "Science with Bez" on BBC Two's The Sunday Show (1995–97). Head templates: {{head|en|phrase|head=job's a good 'un}} job's a good 'un
  1. (Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Expresses satisfaction that a task has been or will be carried out successfully, often suggesting that the task is simple, or ironically implying that it has been completed in a cursory or slapdash manner. Wikipedia link: BBC Two, Happy Mondays, Premier League, Robbie Fowler, Sunday Mirror, The Sunday Show Tags: Australia, Britain, Ireland, New-Zealand, colloquial Synonyms: Bob's your uncle, job's a good'un, job's a goodun, the job's a good 'un
    Sense id: en-job's_a_good_'un-en-phrase-SqVoKwa1 Categories (other): Australian English, British English, Irish English, New Zealand English

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for job's a good 'un meaning in English (3.7kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "Attested in 1968, but probably popularised by footballer Robbie Fowler who, after scoring four goals in a Premier League match against Middlesbrough on 14 December 1996, revealed a T-shirt with the phrase written on it in marker pen. He explained to the press that it was Happy Mondays percussionist Bez's catchphrase in his segment \"Science with Bez\" on BBC Two's The Sunday Show (1995–97).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase",
        "head": "job's a good 'un"
      },
      "expansion": "job's a good 'un",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Irish English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "New Zealand English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1968, Robert Roberts, Imprisoned Tongues, Manchester University Press, page 210",
          "text": "We've cracked it Ginge! Showed out for a cock and hen and drew for a flag. There’s one born every minute. Let this one go for now and the job’s a good un. Hello, there’s a jam role there. And diamonds is a roles best friend. They love em! See me cop off this.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1975 August, Michael Foley, “The Wrassler: A Bit of Strange”, in Fortnight, number 109, →JSTOR, page 14",
          "text": "‘The job’s a good ’un. Ahm getting a word put in and it’ll all be fixed up.’",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998 October 16, \"Darren Tackle\" [Jim White], “Brought to book by the Fraud squad”, The Guardian, page 16",
          "text": "‘Well, if that's what you want,’ he says, sounding a touch ratty, ‘I’ll stop everything else and you can have the entire A350 budget to turn up at the bookshop tomorrow.’ ‘Job's a good ’un,’ I tell him. ‘Oh, and one other thing. Cash, please.’"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Jeremy Clarkson, “The problem is ... it's out of this world”, in The Sunday Times, page 20",
          "text": "A traffic jam made up of normal cars will be twice as long as one made up of these Japanese “kei” cars. And a kei jam will clear more quickly, because in a car the size of a bacterium you don’t have to drive round and round the block looking for somewhere to park. You just pop it in your pocket and the job’s a good ’un.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Harry Hill, Matt Millz Stands Up!, Faber & Faber",
          "text": "‘What do you need new stuff for? Just do the stuff you did on The T Factor – that had them rolling in the aisles! Bish bash bosh! Job’s a goodun’! You get paid! And more importantly so do I!’ said Dickie with a smirk.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Expresses satisfaction that a task has been or will be carried out successfully, often suggesting that the task is simple, or ironically implying that it has been completed in a cursory or slapdash manner."
      ],
      "id": "en-job's_a_good_'un-en-phrase-SqVoKwa1",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Expresses satisfaction that a task has been or will be carried out successfully, often suggesting that the task is simple, or ironically implying that it has been completed in a cursory or slapdash manner."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "Bob's your uncle"
        },
        {
          "word": "job's a good'un"
        },
        {
          "word": "job's a goodun"
        },
        {
          "word": "the job's a good 'un"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Britain",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "BBC Two",
        "Happy Mondays",
        "Premier League",
        "Robbie Fowler",
        "Sunday Mirror",
        "The Sunday Show"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌdʒɒbz ə ˈɡʊd(ə)n/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "job's a good 'un"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "Attested in 1968, but probably popularised by footballer Robbie Fowler who, after scoring four goals in a Premier League match against Middlesbrough on 14 December 1996, revealed a T-shirt with the phrase written on it in marker pen. He explained to the press that it was Happy Mondays percussionist Bez's catchphrase in his segment \"Science with Bez\" on BBC Two's The Sunday Show (1995–97).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase",
        "head": "job's a good 'un"
      },
      "expansion": "job's a good 'un",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "British English",
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Irish English",
        "New Zealand English",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1968, Robert Roberts, Imprisoned Tongues, Manchester University Press, page 210",
          "text": "We've cracked it Ginge! Showed out for a cock and hen and drew for a flag. There’s one born every minute. Let this one go for now and the job’s a good un. Hello, there’s a jam role there. And diamonds is a roles best friend. They love em! See me cop off this.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1975 August, Michael Foley, “The Wrassler: A Bit of Strange”, in Fortnight, number 109, →JSTOR, page 14",
          "text": "‘The job’s a good ’un. Ahm getting a word put in and it’ll all be fixed up.’",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998 October 16, \"Darren Tackle\" [Jim White], “Brought to book by the Fraud squad”, The Guardian, page 16",
          "text": "‘Well, if that's what you want,’ he says, sounding a touch ratty, ‘I’ll stop everything else and you can have the entire A350 budget to turn up at the bookshop tomorrow.’ ‘Job's a good ’un,’ I tell him. ‘Oh, and one other thing. Cash, please.’"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Jeremy Clarkson, “The problem is ... it's out of this world”, in The Sunday Times, page 20",
          "text": "A traffic jam made up of normal cars will be twice as long as one made up of these Japanese “kei” cars. And a kei jam will clear more quickly, because in a car the size of a bacterium you don’t have to drive round and round the block looking for somewhere to park. You just pop it in your pocket and the job’s a good ’un.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Harry Hill, Matt Millz Stands Up!, Faber & Faber",
          "text": "‘What do you need new stuff for? Just do the stuff you did on The T Factor – that had them rolling in the aisles! Bish bash bosh! Job’s a goodun’! You get paid! And more importantly so do I!’ said Dickie with a smirk.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Expresses satisfaction that a task has been or will be carried out successfully, often suggesting that the task is simple, or ironically implying that it has been completed in a cursory or slapdash manner."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Expresses satisfaction that a task has been or will be carried out successfully, often suggesting that the task is simple, or ironically implying that it has been completed in a cursory or slapdash manner."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Britain",
        "Ireland",
        "New-Zealand",
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "BBC Two",
        "Happy Mondays",
        "Premier League",
        "Robbie Fowler",
        "Sunday Mirror",
        "The Sunday Show"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌdʒɒbz ə ˈɡʊd(ə)n/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "Bob's your uncle"
    },
    {
      "word": "job's a good'un"
    },
    {
      "word": "job's a goodun"
    },
    {
      "word": "the job's a good 'un"
    }
  ],
  "word": "job's a good 'un"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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