One Woman so many blogs
  • Home
  • Animals
    • Animals Matter
  • Christmas
    • Get set for Christmas
    • Advent calendar of giving
  • Cookery
    • Cookery Matters
  • Gardening
    • Garden Matters
  • Events
    • Events and festivals
  • Health Matters
    • Good Health
  • How Tos
    • How do you do that
  • News
    • News and views
  • This and That
    • Bits and Bobs
  • Travel
    • Travel Matters 1
    • Travel Matters 2
  • About
  • Contact
  • Cookie policy
Create a personal Valentine rhyme
Yorkshire dialect
How much debt is too much debt?
Ruperts helped UK win WWII
How healthy is your home?
All aboard the Westminster gravy train

Understanding Cockney rhyming slang

23/12/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
With so many people visiting the UK getting the lingo right is important but then there is Cockney rhyming slang.

Cockney rhyming slang is traditionally spoken by those Londoners within the sound of Bow Bells, or so it is said. This blogger lives far away from London in Yorkshire and although she has visited this capital city knows only a little about cockney rhyming slang.

However, in common with most other British people she does know a few cockney slang phrases. So let's see what she can dig up on this subject.
  • Up the apples and pears: STAIRS
  • Mince pies: EYES
  • Pony and trap: CRAP. Pardon the language please.
  • Would you Adam and Eve it: Would you BELIEVE IT.
  • Your boat race: FACE
  • Tea leaf: THIEF
  • The trouble and strife: THE WIFE
  • Luvverly jubberly: ALL'S WELL
  • Syrup of figs: WIG
  • Farmer Giles: PILES or hemorrhoids.
  • If you are brown bread: You are DEAD
  • Battle cruiser: BOOZER, which is another name for a pub.
The above may not be universally known but, at least a few should be known around the UK.

With comedy shows such as Only Fools and Horses examples of Cockney rhyming slang, real and fake, are often heard. A classic from the is series was a Ruby Murray for a CURRY.

So where did all this strange talk come from, I hear you ask?

With no definite history written it generally seems to be thought that cockney rhyming slang was the talk on the streets in years gone by. In fact it appears that it was the slang of thieves and rogues.

In other words cockney rhyming slang was a type of secret language.

​Messages could be passed to the intended recipient without fear of being overheard. If someone did overhear they had no idea what the conversation was about.

Very clever really, and certainly crafty

This cockney language was particularly useful when it was invented in the 19th century for use in front of police officers or coppers, as they were often called. Instead of saying a word out loud a word that it rhymed with was used instead. With time parts of the phrase were dropped which caused more confusion to non-cockneys. However for cockneys it helped confidentiality. An example of this is Daisy Roots which means Boots. These days cockneys would tend to say Daisies for Boots.

Confused?

Well hopefully not too much so. Here are some more phrases which you may find entertaining. Having tried to stay clear of expletives or words that some may find offensive, this cannot be guaranteed.
  • Jam jar: CAR
  • Cream crackered: KNACKERED
  • Dicky bird: WORD
  • Dog and bone: PHONE
  • Currant bun: SUN
  • Donkey's ears: YEARS
  • Bacon and eggs: LEGS
  • Whistle and flute: SUIT
  • Weasel and float: STOAT
  • Lemon squeezy: EASY
  • Loaf of bread: HEAD
  • Rabbit and pork: TALK
  • Jimmy Riddle: PIDDLE which is another word for urinate.
  • Bread and honey: MONEY
  • Barnett fair: HAIR
  • Army and navy: GRAVY
  • Artful Dodger: LODGER
  • Butcher's hook: LOOK
  • Richard the third: TURD
Of course the lists above are by no means exhaustive.

In order to cope with modern day life new cockney phrases are being created all the time. Even the old phrases are adapted at times. It is quite common for a couple of Cockney rhyming slang words or phrases to be strung together. Take for example:
  • Get yer Bacons up the Apples and Stairs: Get your legs upstairs. In reality this could mean go or come upstairs.
  • Me jam jar's cream crackered: Me car is knackered. In reality this would be my car has broken down.
Finally Cockney rhyming slang was used for describing various notes and coins of the realm. English currency was not called such mundane names as a five pound note and the like. Instead there were:
Archer = £2000
Bag of Sand = £1000
Grand = £1000
Monkey = £500
Ton = £100
Carpet = £30
Pony = £25
Macaroni = £25
Apple Core = £20
Score = £20
Speckled Hen = £10
Uncle Ben = £10
Nigel Ben = £10
Paul McKenna = £10
Ayrton (Senna) = Tenner = £10
Lady (Godiva) = Fiver = £5
Taxi Driver = Fiver = £5
Nicker or Quid = £1
Ten Bob Bit = 50p piece
Oxford = 5 shillings
Lord of the Manor = Tanner (sixpence)
Tanner = sixpence

Some of the coins are no longer valid. Decimalisation changed the face of British currency forever. However most of the note denominations still exist.

These days the term cockney is often used about anyone living in London, which is strictly speaking not true. If you visit our capital city though try not to bandy about cockney rhyming slang unless you are confident of the company you are keeping.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2018
    July 2018
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016

    Categories

    All
    102 Minutes That Changed America
    60 Day Old Bread
    911
    Andrew Strong
    Animal Charity Appeal
    Article 50 Debate
    Beverley
    Beverley Artist
    Body Language
    Breakfast In A Bag
    British Royals
    BS Checker
    Calorie Intake
    Calories
    Champagne Lords
    Charity Appeals
    Cockney Rhyming Slang
    Comic Relief
    Conservation
    Costa Coffee
    Crops Shortage
    Currencies
    Debt
    Donald Trump
    Drink Green Tea
    Drought
    Ealing Comedy
    Ealing Studio Comedy
    Entertainment
    Fab Four
    Ferens Art Gallery
    FLOTUS
    Food Shortage
    Fred Elwell
    Funny For Money
    Gaining Weight
    General Election
    Glow In Dark
    GMO Foods
    Go Green
    Going Green
    Good Health
    Gravy Train
    Green Tea
    Happy Valentine
    Heatwave
    Homelessness
    Home Safety
    House Of Lords
    Housing
    Housing Benefit Cuts
    Lavender Hill Mob
    Leprosy
    Loo Seats
    Losing Weight
    Melania Trump
    Movie Review
    New Pound Coin
    Old Spectcales
    Paradummies
    Parliamentary Recess
    Passport To Pimlico
    Post Christmas Debt
    POTUS
    Purple Tomatoes
    Recycling
    Red Nose Day
    Royal Mint
    RSPCA
    RSPCA HULL
    Ruperts
    Side Effects Green Tea
    Slug Control
    Summer
    Television
    Thalidomide
    The Beatles
    The Commitments
    The Environment
    The Staff Of Life
    Toilet Seats
    Tory Government Cuts
    UK Food Shortage
    UK News
    Valentine Rhyme
    Voting
    Water
    Water Shortages
    Westminster
    White Rhino
    Winter Health
    Yorkshire
    Yorkshire Dialect

Picture
                  

British Pancake Day and recipe
How to care for a dying dog
Varifocal specs
PAT dogs

Featured:
​102 minutes that changed America
Kingston Upon Hull City of Culture 2017
Travel - Mahon the capital of Menorca
(C) 2020All Rights Reserved

NewTekWorld News Here

  • Home
  • Animals
    • Animals Matter
  • Christmas
    • Get set for Christmas
    • Advent calendar of giving
  • Cookery
    • Cookery Matters
  • Gardening
    • Garden Matters
  • Events
    • Events and festivals
  • Health Matters
    • Good Health
  • How Tos
    • How do you do that
  • News
    • News and views
  • This and That
    • Bits and Bobs
  • Travel
    • Travel Matters 1
    • Travel Matters 2
  • About
  • Contact
  • Cookie policy