# Origin of Cockney "Gov'nuh" term of respect? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113 "2009-02-02T13:49:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/1 "2009-02-02T13:49:43Z")
Why do cockney’s say "Gov’nuh’ (Governor) as a term of respect? I don’t know of any connection to the word – why not just sir? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/2 "2009-02-02T14:46:03Z")
WAG: “Governor” used to be what the boss was called at work, in some capacity at some time in the past. My reasoning is that Cockneys also call people “Chief” and “Boss”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/3 "2009-02-02T16:04:55Z")
> [@sassyfras](#): > > why not just sir? And what if they’re not talking to a knight? IMHO, it’s a class thing. “Sir” was reserved for the upper classes, whom cockneys rarely rubbed shoulders with. “Governer” was good enough for deferring to the middle class. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/4 "2009-02-02T17:48:05Z")
If you’ve ever seen that 70s TV documentary - sorry, drama serial - “The Sweeney” about the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad, you’ll know that a Detective Inspector is always addressed by his men as “Gov” (in the same way as the Detective Sergeant is called “Skip” or “Skipper”). [http://www.thesweeney.info/](http://www.thesweeney.info/) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/5 "2009-02-02T19:05:24Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > If you’ve ever seen that 70s TV documentary - sorry, drama serial - “The Sweeney” about the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad, you’ll know that a Detective Inspector is always addressed by his men as “Gov” (in the same way as the Detective Sergeant is called “Skip” or “Skipper”). > > [http://www.thesweeney.info/](http://www.thesweeney.info/) I think that’s true for sergeants and inspectors generally in English police forces, not just D.I.s and D.S.s, though there may be some regional dialectal differences. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/6 "2009-02-02T20:38:21Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > WAG: “Governor” used to be what the boss was called at work, in some capacity at some time in the past. > > My reasoning is that Cockneys also call people “Chief” and “Boss”. Don’t British prisons and jails (or gaols) have a “governor” instead of a “warden”? ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/7 "2009-02-02T21:34:19Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Don’t British prisons and jails (or gaols) have a “governor” instead of a “warden”? The “governor” is the official in charge of a British prison. The prison staff are under his authority. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/8 "2009-02-02T21:47:13Z")
In UK prisons, there are usually a goodly number of Governors. The one in charge of the whole place is the No1 Governor - or governing Governor-, however every department will have a Governor in control, so you could easily see around 20 governors in some prisons. You should not make the mistake of thinking that the No1 Governor is a particular level of governor either. There are 5 differant levels with Governor Grade 1 being the highest, down to Governor Grade 5. The governing Governor is the head of the jail, however that post may well be held by a Governor Grade 2 or Grade 3 in the low security places. The most senior Governors are to be found in the most sensitive posts where an escape could have serious political consequencies, as well as a security problem. My understanding of it is that the term ‘Guv’ relates to prison use. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cockney-govnuh-term-of-respect/484113/9 "2009-02-03T00:07:04Z")
We did this one about two years ago. I offered in [that thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=356822&highlight=governor) > [@samclem](#): > > Historically, the term governor was used both in England and the US to mean a person’s father, cited from 1827. > > It is also cited from 1844 as a form of address, meaning sir or fellow. I think it died in the US while still in the 19th century. But continued in England.