Paul Scott: fair dinkum, we're a nation that loves to dob

So goes one of the most resilient sayings of the Australian school yard. It's an early life lesson in what it means to be Australian. And it looms large in jail, if the internationally successful (sold to more than 90 countries) Australian prison drama Wentworth is any guide to inmate etiquette. In jail slang, a dobber is called a dog.

Just on the use of "dog" as a versatile term of derision in Australia, why do dogs get such a bad rap in the vernacular?

Dog act is a term used to describe an act or behaviour seen as treacherous, cowardly, or unacceptable, and was the September 2018 Oxford Word of the Month.

The following year dog shot was the October 2019 Oxford Word of the Month. Dog shot's versatility was recognised by noting its utilisation as a noun: a sudden blow; a king-hit or a verb: to hit (a person) suddenly and without warning; to king hit (a person).

Much of the evidence for the verb form of dog shot refers to giving a sudden unexpected blow. The Oxford blog for October 2019 mentions evidence for use of the term in the noun form in the context of rugba league:

"Cleal was yesterday suspended for five matches after pleading guilty to a grade one reckless high tackle on Gibbs ... Bryce, likening the hatred between the pair as akin to the fierce rivalry between Paul Harragon and Manly's Mark Carroll in the 1990s, labelled Cleal's tackle a 'bit of a dog shot' and said the pair were now all-square." (Manly Daily, 11/5/2005)

Poor dogs. One minute they are being referred to as "mans' best friend" - although in more enlightened times the gender specific nature of the utterance would cause a dog fight - and next minute they are being associated with unexpected violence or dobbing.

The decent thing to do is to stop taking their name in vain.

Not dobbing is sometimes cited as a characteristic of Australian cultural values.

Not telling on someone falls under the broad umbrella of mateship as does larrikinism, a rejection of convention and a tendency to show disrespect and suspicion towards authority.

One of the many witticisms attributed to author, poet and broadcaster Clive James is that the convict streak doesn't explain our population's general compliance with authority: "The problem with Australians is not that so many of them are descended from convicts, but that so many of them are descended from prison officers."

Maybe that helps explain our inclination to dob.

Stockton's Bill Snow (Short Takes 14/10) expressed no issue with dibber-dobbing those who breach COVID-19 rules. Mr Snow expressed frustration shared by many Novocastrians with "... transgressors from Sydney (who) came up here and brought their COVID-19 with them. I fear it will be up to as individuals to police it and report offenders. I know I won't have a problem dobbing offenders in".

In August, NSW Police Minister David Elliott pleaded with the public to dob in persons they knew had (or may), contravened the NSW health order. Police were inundated with information about bubble breakers, illegal family gatherings and household visits.

By mid-August, Crime Stoppers was receiving between 1300 and 1500 calls a day from the public about COVID-19 breaches. NSW Police said "every report is being further investigated". Sometimes police were provided with photographic evidence by the dobbers.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott was a prize scalp for the dobbers when he was fined $500 in early September for failing to wear a mask as required. Mr Abbott was photographed by a member of the public in Manly and the photo was forwarded to police.

Mr Abbott said that he "never thought dobbing and snitching was part of the Australian character".

Never thought? Never?

Fair suck of the sauce bottle. Mr Abbott himself was a dobber baron who used dobbing campaigns for political gain. The bloke didn't mind the odd dob.

He launched the hotline 'Dob in a Dealer' in 2015.

He continued John Howard's 'If You See Something, Say Something' anti-terrorism campaign that encouraged dobbing.

Mr Abbott has always known Aussies are dobbers. Always have dobbed. Always will dob.

We are absolutely a nation of dobbers, and the pandemic leaves me in no doubt that the ability to perform anonymous dobbing on neighbours and those we don't like - anyone really - makes us even more inclined to dob early and dob often.

Dobbing and snitching is as Aussie as a kangaroo.

IN THE NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: