rover1949 Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 As a young apprentice in the ESC Maintenance department, one of my jobs was general gopher. If we needed anything from another department, the foreman would write out a chitty that I had to deliver to the relevant section. Every one of these chitties was signed off 'And Oblige', which added nothing to the message, just seemed to be a local convention. I asked several people why they did it but no-one seemed to know. I have never seen it since and wondered if it was just a steelworks tradition. Anyone else seen it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob123 Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 I remember the phrase "please oblige" (not in Sheffield/steel industry) which I took to be a polite way of saying thank you for carrying out what the chitty asks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 That was my first thought too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unitedite Returns Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 I also remember such post-scripts as 'your prompt attentions will oblige', so perhaps it is a local variation on phrases of that kind, but it does sound very 'Victorian'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rover1949 Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 Yes, it appears to be somewhere between Please Oblige (me) and Much Obliged (to you). One of our lecturers at night-school raised the same question. Blank looks all round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old rider Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 On 18/12/2017 at 10:48, rover1949 said: As a young apprentice in the ESC Maintenance department, one of my jobs was general gopher. If we needed anything from another department, the foreman would write out a chitty that I had to deliver to the relevant section. Every one of these chitties was signed off 'And Oblige', which added nothing to the message, just seemed to be a local convention. I asked several people why they did it but no-one seemed to know. I have never seen it since and wondered if it was just a steelworks tradition. Anyone else seen it? It was not used on the chits at Sanderson Keyser where I was a maintenance electrician apprentice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysander Posted December 19, 2017 Share Posted December 19, 2017 It means, something like... "Thanks...in anticipation"...Victorian/Edwardian English when politeness was paramount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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