tober Showmen's slang.
(ˈtəʊbə(r))
Also tobur.
[a. Shelta; see toby n.2]
The site occupied by a circus, fair, or market.
| 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 357/2 Tobur, toba (showmen, &c.), the ground or field at fairs, hired to put the waggons on for show or circuses, or other al fresco entertainments, which does not amount to much, so that a man or manager is considered very hard up if he has not enough to pay the tobur. Gypsy tober, the road, hence ground. 1933 E. Seago Circus Company vi. 85 How can I walk about the tober without me trousers, I'd be askin' ye? 1939 J. B. Priestley Let the People Sing x. 256 ‘It's not a bad tober—but what's 'is bunce?’.. ‘It's all fair⁓ground slang... Micky..said this wasn't a bad market here, but what had Knocker made?’ 1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Dec. 742/1 She lived with it [sc. a circus] for some time as a privileged outsider, parking her caravan on the tober, as the site is called. 1968 [see joint n. 14 b]. |