"He dobbed me in to the teacher."
Where "Dob In" Comes From
Traces back to older British dialect, where "dob" meant to put or drop something down heavily — a sense that carried through into dropping someone right into trouble with an authority figure.
Australians took the word and ran with it, making "dobbing" one of the most instantly recognisable schoolyard sins in the country.
How Aussies Actually Use It
Used from the playground right through to adulthood, whenever someone reports another person's wrongdoing — "he dobbed me in to the teacher" is a childhood classic, but the term works just as well for adults reporting a workplace rule-breaker.
"Don't be a dobber" is one of the earliest social rules many Australians learn, reflecting a broader cultural discomfort with informing on others.
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