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Monday, 29 January, 2001, 15:28 GMT

Yob culture: It's a fine line

yob culture n, derogatory, intentional oxymoron (cf Definitely Maybe). Everyone knows what yobs are (as with its extension, yobbo). But a precise definition of yob might be harder to come by - in its earliest days it simply meant "boy", an apparent example of back-to-front slang (cf bonk).

USAGE: Yob culture is to be a major target of UK Government policy, ("We need to tighten the law significantly in respect of what I call the yob culture", Tony Blair, November 2000). Incl. measures against drinking in public such as fixed penalties, and most notably a widely leaked proposal to allow local authorities to set up curfews for those under 16, partic. on streets of troubled areas or estates, meaning they should not be out on the streets between 9pm and 6am.

ORIGINS: Former Conservative Party chairman Chris Patten credited with first threatening that risked becoming a "yob" society with an impoverished culture, in 1985 (cf Pile of pants, on right).

CONTESTED USAGE: One big problem facing the government is defining what actually constitutes yobbish behaviour. Is it just the kind of behaviour represented by Tony Husband's long-running Private Eye cartoon, Yobs? (see Internet links) Or does getting arrested for being drunk and disorderly in Leicester Square constitute it? How about drinking 14 pints in a day? At what point along the line of

shouting
swearing
fighting
graffiti
shoplifting
underage drinking
drug taking
and mugging

does bad behaviour become yobbishness? Where does football hooliganism fit in? Is the term restricted to teenagers? Jane's Police Review has asked why should a Last Night of the Proms crowd not constitute yob culture?

Questions and comments about this, or other issues, to newsonline.features@bbc.co.uk

Related to this story:
Yobs at centre of Queen's speech (05 Dec 00 | UK Politics) Teen curfews 'to combat yobs' (04 Dec 00 | UK Politics) The English and their image problem (04 Jul 98 | From Our Own Correspondent)

Internet links: Yobs by Tony Husband |
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