Hot on the heels of our success with our Top 100 Best British Slang Phrases, we thought we’d explore the beauty of Cockney Rhyming Slang next.
Rhyming slang is believed to have originated in the mid-19th century in the East End of London, with sources suggesting some time in the 1840s. It dates from around 1840 among the predominantly Cockney population of the East End of London who are well-known for having a characteristic accent and speech patterns.
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 vendors to talk amongst themselves in order to facilitate collusion, without customers knowing what they were saying. Another suggestion is that it may have been used by criminals (see thieves’ cant) to confuse the police.
Whatever the origins – there are many fun turns of phrases and we’ve put together the Top 100 Words and Phrases that we could find for your reading pleasure.
Here’s an interesting lesson on the slang from locals in London:
TOP 100 COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG WORDS AND PHRASES:
- Adam and Eve – believe
- Alan Whickers – knickers
- apples and pears – stairs
- Artful Dodger – lodger
- Ascot Races – braces
- Aunt Joanna – piano
- Baked Bean – Queen
- Baker’s Dozen – Cousin
- Ball and Chalk – Walk
- Barnaby Rudge – Judge
- Barnet Fair – hair
- Barney Rubble – trouble
- Battlecruiser – boozer
- bees and honey – money
- bird lime – time (in prison)
- Boat Race – face
- Bob Hope – soap
- bottle and glass – arse
- Brahms and Liszt – pissed (drunk)
- Brass Tacks – facts
- Bread and Cheese – sneeze
- Bread and Honey – money
- Bricks and Mortar – daughter
- Bristol City – breasts
- Brown Bread – dead
- Bubble and Squeak – Greek
- Bubble Bath – Laugh
- butcher’s hook – a look
- Chalfont St. Giles – piles
- Chalk Farm – arm
- china plate – mate (friend)
- Cock and Hen – ten
- Cows and Kisses – Missus (wife)
- currant bun – sun (also The Sun, a British newspaper)
- custard and jelly – telly (television)
- Daisy Roots – boots
- Darby and Joan – moan
- Dicky bird – word
- Dicky Dirt – shirt
- Dinky Doos – shoes
- dog and bone – phone
- dog’s meat – feet [from early 20th c.]
- Duck and Dive – skive
- Duke of Kent – rent
- dustbin lid – kid
- Elephant’s Trunk – drunk
- Fireman’s Hose – nose
- Flowery Dell – cell
- Frog and Toad – road
- Gypsy’s kiss – piss
- half-inch – pinch (to steal)
- Hampton Wick – prick
- Hank Marvin – starving
- irish pig – wig
- Isle of Wight – tights
- jam-jar – car
- Jayme Gibbs
- Jimmy Riddle – piddle
- joanna – piano (pronounced ‘pianna’ in Cockney)
- Khyber Pass – arse
- Kick and Prance – dance
- Lady Godiva – fiver
- Laugh n a joke – smoke
- Lionel Blairs – flares
- Loaf of Bread – head
- loop the loop – soup
- Mickey Bliss – piss
- Mince Pies – eyes
- Mork and Mindy – windy’
- north and south – mouth
- Orchestra stalls – balls
- Pat and Mick – sick
- Peckham Rye – tie
- plates of meat – feet
- Pony and Trap – crap
- raspberry ripple – nipple
- raspberry tart – fart
- Roast Pork – fork
- Rosy Lee – tea (drink)
- Round the Houses – trousers
- Rub-a-Dub – pub
- Ruby Murray – curry
- Sausage Roll – goal
- septic tank – Yank
- sherbert (short for sherbert dab) – cab (taxi)
- Skin and Blister – sister
- Sky Rocket – pocket
- Sweeney Todd – flying squad
- syrup of figs – wig (sic)
- tables and chairs – stairs
- tea leaf – thief
- Tom and Dick – sick
- tom tit – shit
- tomfoolery – jewellery
- Tommy Trinder – window
- trouble and strife – wife
- two and eight – state (of upset)
- Vera Lynn – gin
- whistle and flute – suit (of clothes)
- Wonga – cash
