bobtail

rag, tag, and bobtail

The lowest social class; the common people. You must be joking—a person of my social status can't eat with the rag, tag, and bobtail at a filthy pub!
See also: and, bobtail

ragtag and bobtail

The lowest social class; the common people. You must be joking—a person of my social status can't eat with the ragtag and bobtail at a fast food place!
See also: and, bobtail
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

rag, tag, and bobtail

a group of people perceived as disreputable or undesirable.
A bobtail is a horse or dog with a docked tail, while rag and tag both express the idea of ‘tattered clothes’: the phrase literally means ‘people in ragged clothes together with their dogs and horses’. The forms tag, rag, and bobtail , ragtag and bobtail , and tagrag and bobtail are also found.
See also: and, bobtail
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

ragtag and bobtail

Low-life, riffraff. This expression dates back to the seventeenth century, when ragtag meant a ragged lot of people and bobtail a horse whose tail had been cut short (“bobbed”) and was considered valueless. Samuel Pepys in his Diary turned it about a bit: “The dining-room was full of tag rag and bobtail, dancing, singing, and drinking” (1658–59). The expression is not heard much any longer, however, at least not in the United States.
See also: and, bobtail
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • rag, tag, and bobtail
  • tag and rag
  • ragtag and bobtail
  • the social ladder
  • social butterfly
  • social
  • climb the social ladder
  • Black Twitter
  • twitter
  • SJW
References in periodicals archive
Ken thinks everyone in the late years of life would benefit from having a friend like Lily Bobtail.
LittleLily haschangedmylife; KEN, 84, TELLS OF FRIENDSHIP WITH GIRL, 4 Pensioner has spring in his step thanks to remarkable friendship with youngster after they are paired for Channel 4 show
Ed Brown's new Special Forces Carry features his Bobtail butt.
Ed Brown Special Forces Carry
Bobtail was another pet she found on the loose, and when she took her in, she thought she was a he!
My baby bunnies could die without a mum; Ann's fear after thieves snatch tiny trio
As a part of its bobtail agreement, ORYXE said Sun Coast will supply the city approximately 200,000 gallons over the course of one year utilizing its existing fleet of bobtail fuel trucks.
Sun Coast Resources Distributes OR-LED Additive in Dallas
The Bobtail has been a feature of the very popular Kobra Carry pistols from Ed Brown Custom.
Ed Brown's Executive Carry
SSgt Downey immediately stopped the bobtail and upon getting out, noticed heavy black smoke coming from the rear of the trailer.
Weapons safety: award of distinction
The Hawaiian bobtail squid has an organ in its belly that works like a flashlight, says Wendy Crookes, a biologist at the University of Hawaii.
Sneaky squid
As the Hawaiian bobtail squid glides through the ocean on moonlit nights, when darkness alone wouldn't cloak it, reflective materials in its tissues render the animal invisible.
Reflective protein causes squid to shimmer
They continue to put vast sums of hard earned tax payers money into wasteful schemes, while keeping our police force looking like Rag Tag and Bobtail, with crime continuing around us by day and night, and we every day hoping that we are not to be part oftomorrow's statistics (again).
Police need cash to protect us
Vibrio fischeri is a symbiotic bacterium associated with the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes.
Construction, characterization, and colonization of Vibrio fischeri amino acid auxotrophs. (Environmental Poster Session 10:00 AM-11:00 AM)
STOCKPORT boss Andy Kilner paid tribute to his rag-tag and bobtail team after this bore draw.
Football: Kilner happy after bore draw; STOCKPORT 0 WBA 0
His inquiries take him into the neighboring town, Bobtail, 15 miles away; some jurisdictional questions arise, the answers wholly unexpected.
A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge
DeWitt Petroleum provides fleet card, bobtail, onsite, and lubrication products and services throughout Southern California.
California Fuel Distributor SC Buys DeWitt Petroleum
The Kobra Carry LW is a 4.25-inch Commander model slide with a single-stack bobtail frame.
King Kobra: the new Kobra Carry light-weight from Ed Brown strikes lightning-fast and deadly