Talk:cobber

Etymology

"It is proposed, without proof..." - unless this can be referenced to a reliable source doing the proposing, this reads like original research to me. Thryduulf 23:00, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes. I found this, which may be a good replacement:

"Possibly from dialectal cob, to take a liking to."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.--Tyranny Sue 10:21, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Could it instead be from Middle English cobbe and related to Modern English cob in the sense of "A great man, big man, leading man; in modern dialect expressing pre-eminence, as ‘chief’, ‘leader’, rather than state"? This quotation is from the OED entry for cob, n.1, sense I.1.a.--IVaughanC (talk) 01:32, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

Never heard 'em say "cobber"

Lived in Oz (pronounced Oz like the Wizard, and they're Ozzies, "z", not "s") 4-1/2 yr in the mid-70s, and never heard anyone say "cobber". It's "Mate": "G'day Mate!", and "Don't come the raw prawn with me, mate!" ("Get off my case, buddy").

Stone the crows and Long live The Lucky Country!