cobber

Meaning

1. A pal, buddy, mate, friend; often used in direct address by one male to another.
2. A sweet consisting of a small block of hard caramel covered in chocolate.

Etymology / origin

Uncertain. Perhaps from Yiddish חבֿר (khaver, “friend, comrade”), from Hebrew חבר (ḥāḇēr, “friend”), possibly via Dutch gabber; alternately, perhaps from the British dialectal term cob (“take a liking to”), or a conflation of both. The suggestion that it is a self-referential collective term for convicts and immigrants who departed for Australian shores from the Irish port of Cobh seems chronologically unlikely.

Related words

Sources

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