Rhyming slang

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2014
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Contents
1. History...3
2. Development.4
3. Regional and international variations..5
4. Rhyming slang in popular culture.6
5. Other examples of Rhyming slang....8
6. References...13






















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Rhyming slang is a form of phrase construction in the English language and is
especially prevalent in dialectal English from the East End of London; hence the
alternative name, Cockney rhyming slang (or CRS). The construction involves
replacing a common word with a rhyming phrase of two or three words and then, in
almost all cases, omitting the secondary rhyming word (which is thereafter implied),
in a process called hemiteleia, making the origin and meaning of the phrase elusive to
listeners not in the know.
1. History
Rhyming slang is believed to have originated in the mid-19th century in
the East End of London, with several sources suggesting some time in the 1840s.
According to Partridge (1972:12), it dates from around 1840 and arose in the East
End of London, however John Camden Hotten in his 1859 Dictionary of Modern
Slang, Cant and Vulgar Words states that (English) rhyming slang originated about
twelve or fifteen years ago (i.e. in the 1840s) with chaunters and patterers in
the Seven Dials area of London. (The reference is to travelling salesmen of certain
kinds. Chaunters sold sheet music and patterers offered cheap, tawdry goods at fairs
and markets up and down the country). Hotten's Dictionary included a Glossary of
the Rhyming Slang, the first known such work. It included later mainstays such as
Frog and toad the main road and Apples and pears stairs as well as many
that later grew more obscure, e.g. Battle of the Nile a tile (vulgar term for a hat),
Duke of York take a walk, and Top of Rome home.
It remains a matter of speculation whether rhyming slang was a linguistic
accident, a game, or a cryptolect developed intentionally to confuse non-locals. If
deliberate, it may also have been used to maintain a sense of community. It is
possible that it was used in the marketplace to allow traders to talk among
themselves in order to facilitate collusion, without customers knowing what they
were saying. Another suggestion is that it may have been used by criminals to
confuse the police.


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2. Development
At any point in history, in any location, rhyming slang can be seen to
incorporate words and phrases that are relevant at that particular time and place.
Many examples are based on locations in London and, in all likelihood, will be
meaningless to people unfamiliar with the capital e.g. Peckham Rye, meaning tie
(as in necktie), which dates from the late 19th century; "Hampstead Heath", meaning
teeth (usually as Hampsteads), which was first recorded in 1887 and "Barnet
Fair", meaning "hair", which dates from the 1850s. (In these examples and many
subsequent ones the final step of hemiteleia has been omitted to make it easier to
trace the origin of the substituted words).
By the mid-20th century many rhyming slang expressions used the names of
contemporary personalities, especially actors and performers: for example Gregory
Peck meaning neck and also cheque; Ruby Murray meaning curry; Alans,
meaning knickers from Alan Whicker; Max Miller meaning pillow when
pronounced [pil] and Henry Halls for balls (testicles).
The use of personal names as rhymes continued into the late 20th century, for
example Tony Blairs meaning flares, as in trousers with a wide bottom
(previously this was Lionel Blairs and this change illustrates the ongoing mutation
of the forms of expression) and Britney Spears, meaning beers.
Many examples have passed into common usage. Some substitutions have
become relatively widespread in England in their contracted form. To have a
butcher's, meaning to have a look, originates from butcher's hook, an S-shaped
hook used by butchers to hang up meat, and dates from the late 19th century but has
existed independently in general use from around the 1930s simply as butchers.
Similarly, use your loaf, meaning use your head, derives from loaf of bread
and also dates from the late 19th century but came into independent use in the
1930s. To have a giraffe is commonly employed for a laugh, although technically
this does not involve hemiteleia.
Rhyming slang, in keeping with the rest of the language, is at the mercy of
what one might loosely refer to as false etymology. An example occurs that
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involves the term barney, which has been used to mean an altercation or fight since
the late 19th century, although without a clear derivation. Thus, in the 1964 film A
Hard Day's Night, John Lennonmischievously taunts the road manager with the line
If you're gonna have a barney, can I hold your coat?. In the 2001 feature
film Ocean's Eleven Don Cheadle uses the term barney and the claim is made that
this rhyme is derived from Barney Rubble, (trouble) with references to a character
from the Flintstones cartoon show. This usage can be seen either as an abuse of
history, or as a good example of the ever-changing nature of rhyming slang.

3. Regional and international variations
Rhyming slang is used mainly in London in England but can to some degree be
understood across the country. Some constructions, however, rely on particular
regional accents for the rhymes to work. The term Charing Cross for example (a
place in London) has been used to mean "horse" since the mid-19th century but does
not rhyme unless horse is pronounced as hoss - possibly indicating the local-
dialect pronunciation of the word at the time. A similar example is "Joanna" meaning
piano, which is based on the pronunciation of piano as pianna [pin].
Unique formations also exist in other parts of the United Kingdom, such as in the
East Midlands, where the local accent has formed Derby Road, which rhymes with
cold, a conjunction that would not be possible elsewhere in the UK.
Outside England, rhyming slang is used in many English-speaking countries in
the Commonwealth of Nations, but is not in general use in the United States. (Some
notable exceptions: bread [bread & honey = money], blow a raspberry [raspberry
tart = fart] and put up your dukes [Duke of York = fork, a Cockney slang term for
fist]). In Australian slang the term for an English person is pommy, which has
been proposed as a rhyme on "pomegranate" rhyming with immigrant; similarly the
term seppo/septic [septic tank = yank] is a slang term for Americans. A more recent
Australian invention is the term reginalds to describe underpants (referred to as
"undies" in Australian slang), from Reg Grundies after Reg Grundy, the Australian
media tycoon. In Australia and South Africa, the colloquial term China is derived
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from mate rhyming with China plate (the identical form, heard in expressions
like me old China is also a long-established Cockney idiom).
In London rhyming slang is continually evolving, and new phrases are
introduced all the time. As mentioned new personalities replace old ones (as
in Lionel/Tony Blairs flares), or pop culture introduces new words as in I
haven't a Scooby (from Scooby Doo, the eponymous cartoon dog of the cartoon
series) meaning I haven't a clue.

4. Rhyming slang in popular culture
Rhyming slang is used, then described and a number of examples suggested as
dialogue in one scene of the 1967 film To Sir With Love starring Sidney Poitier. The
English students are telling their foreign teacher that the slang is a drag and
something for old people.
In Britain rhyming slang had a resurgence of popular interest beginning in the
1970s resulting from its use in a number of London-based television programmes
such as Steptoe and Son, Mind Your Language, The Sweeney (the title of which is
itself rhyming slang "Sweeney Todd" for "Flying Squad", a rapid response unit of
Londons Metropolitan Police),Minder, Citizen Smith, Only Fools and Horses,
and EastEnders. Minder could be quite uncompromising in its use of obscure forms
without any clarification. Thus the non-Cockney viewer was obliged to deduce that,
say, "iron" was "male homosexual" ('iron' = 'iron hoof' = 'poof'). One episode in
Series 5 of Steptoe and Son was entitled "Any Old Iron", for the same reason, when
Albert thinks that Harold is 'on the turn'.
There is increased interest in "Nominative CRS" or "Nominative Cockney
rhyming slang", a derivative of Nominative Determinism, in which the rhyming slang
for a celebrity's name is chosen not only to rhyme but also in line with their
behaviour. A prominent example is that of Bob Hope being used as rhyming slang for
dope, after Bob Hope admitted smoking marijuana.
In The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, a comic twist was added to rhyming
slang by way of spurious and fabricated examples which a young man had
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laboriously to explain to his father (e.g. 'dustbins' meaning 'children', as in 'dustbin
lids' = 'kids'; 'Teds' being 'Ted Heath' and thus 'teeth'; and even 'Chitty Chitty' being
'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', and thus 'rhyming slang'...).
In modern literature, Cockney rhyming slang is used frequently in the novels
and short stories of Kim Newman, for instance in the short story collections "The
Man from the Diogenes Club" (2006) and "Secret Files of the Diogenes Club"
(2007), where it is explained at the end of each book.
[17]
Also, in the novel Moving
Pictures by Terry Pratchett, this slang is frequently used.
In popular music, Spike Jones and his City Slickers recorded "So 'Elp Me",
based on rhyming slang (without the hemiteleia), in 1950. The 1967 Kinks song
"Harry Rag" was based on the usage of the name Harry Wragg as rhyming slang for
"fag" (i.e. a cigarette). The UK punk scene of the late 1970s introduced bands that
glorified their working-class heritage: Sham 69 had a 1978 hit song "The Cockney
Kids are Innocent". The idiom made a brief appearance in the UK-based DJ reggae
music of the 1980s in the hit "Cockney Translation" by Smiley Culture of South
London; this was followed a couple of years later by Domenick and Peter Metro's
"Cockney and Yardie". London-based artists such asAudio Bullys and Chas &
Dave (and others from elsewhere in the UK, such as The Streets, who are from
Birmingham) frequently use rhyming slang in their songs.
In movies, Cary Grant's character teaches rhyming slang to his female
companion in the film Mr. Lucky (1943) and describes it as Australian rhyming slang.
The closing song of the 1969 crime caper, The Italian Job, ("Getta Bloomin' Move
On" a.k.a. "The Self Preservation Society") contains many slang terms. In present day
feature films rhyming slang is often used to lend authenticity to an East End setting.
Examples include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) (wherein the slang is
translated via subtitles in one scene); The Limey (1999); Sexy
Beast (2000); Snatch (2000); Ocean's Eleven (2001); and Austin Powers in
Goldmember (2002); It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004), after BBC radio disc
jockey Pete Tong whose name is used in this context as rhyming slang for
"wrong"; Green Street Hooligans (2005). In Margin Call (2011), Will Emerson,
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played by London-born actor Paul Bettany, asks a friend on the telephone, "How's the
trouble and strife?" (wife).
In Scottish Football, a number of Clubs have nicknames taken from rhyming
slang. Partick Thistle are known as the "Harry Rags", which is taken from the
rhyming slang of their 'official' nickname "the jags". Rangers are known as the
"Teddy Bears", which comes from the rhyming slang for "the Gers" (shortened
version of Ran-gers). Heart of Midlothian are known as the "Jambos", which comes
from "Jam Tarts" which is the rhyming slang for "Hearts" which is the common
abbreviation of the Club's name. Hibernian are also referred to as "The Cabbage"
which comes from Cabbage and Ribs being the rhyming slang for Hibs.
On the TV show The League in episode The Guest Bong, Andre repeatedly
uses cockney rhyming slang and explains the pattern. One of the times he uses it, he
uses "Christmas Carol" as shorthand for "barrel", which causes a misunderstanding
that becomes a plot point.
American-born M.C. MF Doom released an ode to the dialect entitled
"Rhymin' Slang", after settling in the UK in 2010. The track was released on his 2012
album "Keys to the Kuffs".

5. Other examples of Rhyming slang
Rhyming slang works by replacing the word to be obscured with the first word
of a phrase that rhymes with that word. For instance, "face" would be replaced by
boat, because face rhymes with "boat race. Similarly feet becomes plates
(plates of meat), and money is bread (a very common usage, from bread and
honey). Sometimes the full phrase is used, for example Currant Bun to mean The
Sun (often referring to the British tabloid newspaper of that name). There is no hard
and fast rule for this, and you just have to know whether a particular expression is
always shortened, never shortened, or can be used either way.
Other examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang, or phrases:
Adam and Eve = believe = as in would you Adam and Eve it?
Almond Rocks = socks
Apples and pears = stairs
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Aris = Aristotle = bottle & glass = arse (a two-stage rhyme)
Artful Dodger = lodger
Ascot Races = braces
Aunt Joanna = piano
Bag of fruit = suit
Baked Bean = queen
Baker's Dozen = cousin
Ball and Chalk = walk
Barnaby Rudge = judge
Barnet = Barnet Fair = hair
Boat = boat race = face
Bob Hope = soap
Boracic (freq. contracted to brassic) = boracic lint = skint (i.e. penniless)
Bottle = bottle and glass = arse (e.g. courage; Courage also happens to be the name of
a brewery)
Brahms = Brahms and Liszt (classical composers) = pissed (i.e. drunk)
Brass Tacks = facts
Bread and Honey = money
Bricks and Mortar = daughter
Bristol = Bristol City = titty (i.e. breast)
Brown bread = dead
Bubble = Bubble & Squeak = Greek
Butcher's = butcher's hook = look
Chalfonts = Chalfont St Giles = piles (i.e. haemorrhoids)
Chalk Farm = arm
China = china plate = mate
Cobblers = cobblers' awls = balls or bollocks (i.e. testicles , but usually meant in
the sense of rubbish' as in You're talking a load of cobblers)
Cock and Hen = ten
Creamed = cream crackered = knackered (i.e. exhausted or beaten)
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Currant bun = sun or The Sun newspaper
Daisies = daisy roots = boots
Darby and Joan = moan
Dicky = dicky dirt = shirt
Dog = dog and bone = phone
Duck and Dive = skive
Duke of Kent = rent
Dukes = Duke[s] of York = fork, i.e. hand, now chiefly when balled into a fist
Dustbin Lid = kid
Emmas = Emma Freud (English author and columnist) = haemorrhoids
Farmers = Farmer Giles = piles (slang for haemorrhoids )
Flowery Dell = ( prison ) cell
Frog = frog & toad = road
George Raft = draught
Ginger = ginger beer = queer
Gregory = Gregory Peck = neck, or cheque
Hampsteads = Hampstead Heath = teeth
Hampton Wick = prick (i.e. penis)
Half-inch = pinch (i.e. steal)
I suppose = nose
Jack = Jack Jones = alone ("On my Jack" = "On my own")
Jam jar = car
Jam tart = heart
Jimmy = Jimmy Riddle (unknown person, not the character killed during the Waco
siege)= piddle or widdle (urinate)
Jugs = jugs of beer = ears
Khyber = Khyber Pass = arse
Kick and Prance = dance
Lady Godiva = fiver (i.e. five- pound note)
Lionels = Lionel Blairs (English variety performer) = flares (as in flared trousers)
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Loaf = loaf of bread = head ("use your loaf")
Lucy Lockett = pocket
Minces (or mincers) = mince pies = eyes
Mutton = Mutt and Jeff = deaf = named after Mutt and Jeff , two early 20th century
comic strip characters
Nobbies = Nobby Stiles (English footballer) = piles (haemorrhoids)
North and South = mouth
Oily rag = fag (i.e. cigarette)
Ones and twos = shoes
Peckham Rye = tie (i.e. necktie)
Pen and Ink = stink
Pigs ears = big beers (large glasses of Ale )
Plaster = Plaster of Paris = Aris = Aristotle = bottle = bottle and glass = arse (a three-
stage rhyme)
Plates = plates of meat = feet
Porky = pork pie = lie, e.g. "He's telling porkies!"
Rabbit = rabbit and pork = talk
Raspberry = raspberry tart = fart (as in "blowing raspberry/ies" = making rasping
noises with your mouth)
Richard = Richard the Third = turd (lump of faeces)
Richard = Dicky Bird = bird (slang for girl) but also Dicky Bird = word
Rosie = Rosie Lee = tea e.g. "Have a cup of Rosie"
Round the houses = trousers
Rub-a-dub-dub = pub = public house
Ruby = Ruby Murray (popular singer in the 1950s born in Belfast ) = curry
Salmon and Trout = snout
Scarper = Scapa Flow = go (as in "run for it!")
Septic = septic tank = Yank (slang for an American)
Sexton Blake = cake
Sherbet Dab = (taxi) cab
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Skin = skin and blister = sister
Sky = sky rocket = pocket
sweaty = sweaty sock = jock = Scottish person
Syrup / sirrup = syrup of figs = wig(s)
Tea leaf = thief
The Sweeney = Sweeney Todd =Flying Squad , a special division of the Metropolitan
Police ; used as the title of TV series The Sweeney
Taters = Potatoes in the mould = cold
Titfer = tit for tat = hat
Tod = Tod Sloane = own (as in "on your tod", meaning "alone")
Tom and Dick = sick
Tomfoolery = jewellery
Treacle = treacle tart = sweetheart
Trouble = trouble and strife = wife
Vera = Vera Lynn (famous British wartime singer)= 'skin' or cigarette paper, eg, "got
any Veras?", or chin, or gin
Whistle = whistle and flute = suit = as in "a nice whistle"















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REFERENCES
1. Roberts, Chris (2006). Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind
Rhyme. Thorndike Press. ISBN 0-7862-8517-6.
2. Bryson, Bill (1990). Mother Tongue. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-014305-X.
3. Ayto, John (2002). The Oxford Dictionary of Rhyming Slang. Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-280122-8.
4. Oxford English Reference Dictionary. Oxford University Press.
5. Partridge, Eric. Dictionary of Historical Slang. Penguin, 1972.
6. Hotten, John Camden (1859). "Some account of the Rhyming Slang, the secret
language of Chaunters and Patterers". A dictionary of modern slang, cant, and
vulgar words. John Camden Hotten. pp. 133136.
7. Sullivan, Dick. ""Weeping Willow" stands for "Pillow": Victorian Rhyming
Slang". Retrieved 16 January 2010.
8. Partridge,Eric, A concise dictionary of slang and unconventional English.
Routledge, 1991:22. (ISBN 0-415-06352-3)
9. A Hard Days Night, United Artists, 1964
10. The Oxford English Dictionary cites a well-known Australian weekly, The
Bulletin, which on 14 November 1912 reported: "The other day a Pummy
Grant (assisted immigrant) was handed a bridle and told to catch a
horse." Online Oxford English Dictionary entry for "Pomegranate".
11. Partridge,Eric, A concise dictionary of slang and unconventional English.
Routledge,1991:342. (ISBN 0-415-06352-3)
12. Shambles in Belgravia BBC Cult
13. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2119261/
14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyming_slang