demob, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

demob n.

[abbr.]

demobilization from the armed forces.

1947		K. Williams Diaries 4 Sept. 14: Maj. Hills gave me special demob letter to show in H.K.
1958		A. Sillitoe Sat. Night and Sun. Morning 115: Dave was sent to the BLA six months before demob.
1960		(con. 1947) A. Wesker I’m Talking About Jerusalem I ii: I was married once. God knows how it happened – just after demob.
1973		B.S. Johnson All Bull 68: Bob’s departure on leave too was commemorated [...] and so was his demob.
1983		(con. 1940s) D. Nobbs Second From Last in the Sack Race 92: They hadn’t realised that his swift demob had been on medical grounds.
1999		Indep. Rev. 25 Nov. 12: I was [...] a lecturer in fine arts in the ‘demob’ college, for soldiers who were about to enter civilian life.
2001		A. Sillitoe Birthday 174: After demob he never wore a hat again.

In compounds

demob-happy (adj.) [-happy sfx (2); orig. milit. use, the sense of the nervous happiness that overtakes men nearing demobilization and whose milit. service is nearing its end. Note prison use gate-happy, the sense of nervous excitement that takes over those whose sentence is almost up]

excited at the prospect of being released from a long-term, usu. tedious job.

1982		J. Barnett Inside the Treasury 138: Demob Happy The politics of 1978 were deeply influenced by the prospect of a General Election.
1990		R. Collins Television 13: Obviously demob-happy at the end of his period of office at Channel 4 [etc.].
2003		Guardian 17 Jul. 🌐 Question time today was hot and noisy. It was the last of the summer season, and MPs were behaving like schoolboys at the end of term. Many of them will be getting out their buckets and spades in the next few days, and some looked demob happy at the prospect.
2007		J. Clune Man of the Month Club 60: The hollow feeling was subsiding, squashed out by the fug of beer and the jollity of the Friday evening demob-happy crowd.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 55: ‘Anyway, we’re not all demob happy. Some of us have our work to go to’.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 678: The pigs [...] went in search of liberty and scran, trotted down Temegate with a demob-happy swagger.

demob suit (n.)

the suit issued to discharged men on their quitting the services.

1947		J. Maclaren-Ross ‘The Dark Diceman’ in Bitten by the Tarantula (2005) 212: A seedy young man in a frayed collar and a shiny demob suit.
1973		B.S. Johnson All Bull 2: The 1948 National Service Acts [...] did away with demob suits and gratuities.
1983		(con. 1940s) D. Nobbs Second From Last in the Sack Race 92: His demob suit hanging off him like wool on a dying sheep.
1998		(con. 1940s) P. Cumper One Bright Child 81: This is my demob suit, my only suit.
2001		A. Sillitoe Birthday 18: A young soldier in his early twenties, he queued to be measured for his demob suit.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 68: Orchardton’s dad had come over [...] in 1946 with a suitcase and a demob suit.