Cockney Rhyming Slang
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Cockney rhyming slang is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London. Many of
its expressions have passed into common language, and the creation of new ones is no longer restricted
to Cockneys. Up until the late 20th Century, rhyming slang was also common in Australian slang,
probably due to the formative influence of cockney on Australian English.
It developed as a way of obscuring the meaning of sentences to those who did not understand the
slang, though it remains a matter of speculation whether this was a linguistic accident, or whether it
was developed intentionally to assist criminals or to maintain a particular community.
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 inspired by it, are:
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Adam and Eve = believe = as in "would you Adam and Eve it?"
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Almond Rocks = socks
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Apples and pears = stairs
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Aris = Aristotle = bottle & glass = arse (a two-stage rhyme) [see Plaster below]
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Artful Dodger = lodger
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Ascot Races = braces
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Aunt Joanna = piano
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Bag of fruit = suit
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Baked Bean = queen
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Baker's Dozen = cousin
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Ball and Chalk = walk
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Barnaby Rudge = judge
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Barnet = Barnet Fair = hair
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Berk or Burk = Berkshire Hunt = cunt (used as an insult, never as an anatomical reference)
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Boat = boat race = face
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Bob Hope = soap
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Boracic (freq. contracted to brassic) = boracic lint = skint (i.e. penniless)
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Bottle = bottle and glass = arse (i. e. courage; Courage also happens to be the name of a
brewery)
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Brahms = Brahms and Liszt (classical composers) = pissed (i.e. drunk)
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Brass Tacks = facts
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Bread and Honey = money
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Bricks and Mortar = daughter
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Bristol = Bristol City = titty (i.e. breast)
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Brown bread = dead
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Bubble = Bubble & Squeak = Greek
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Butcher's = butcher's hook = look
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Chalfonts = Chalfont St Giles = piles (i.e. haemorrhoids)
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Chalk Farm = arm
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China = china plate = mate
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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")
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Cock and Hen = ten
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Creamed = cream crackered = knackered (i.e. exhausted or beaten)
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Currant bun = sun or The Sun newspaper
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Daisies = daisy roots = boots
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Darby and Joan = moan
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Dicky = dicky dirt = shirt
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Dicky or Dickie = dickie bird = word = as in "not a dickie", or even "not a dickie bird"
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Dog = dog and bone = phone
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Duck and Dive = skive
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Ducks and Geese = F--k-in' Police
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Duke of Kent = rent
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Dukes = Duke[s] of York = fork, i.e. hand, now chiefly when balled into a fist
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Dustbin Lid = kid
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Emmas = Emma Freud (English author and columnist) = haemorrhoids
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Farmers = Farmer Giles = piles (slang for haemorrhoids )
Flowery Dell = ( prison ) cell
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Frog = frog & toad = road
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George Raft = draught
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Ginger = ginger beer = queer
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Gregory = Gregory Peck = neck, or cheque
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Gypsy's = Gypsy's kiss = piss
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Hampsteads = Hampstead Heath = teeth
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Hampton Wick = prick (i.e. penis)
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Half-inch = pinch (i.e. steal)
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I suppose = nose
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Jack = Jack Jones = alone ("On my Jack" = "On my own")
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Jam jar = car
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Jam tart = heart
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J. Arthur = J. Arthur Rank (1930s UK flour magnate and film producer) = wank (i.e.
masturbate)
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Jimmy = Jimmy Riddle (unknown person, not the character killed during the Waco siege)=
piddle or widdle (urinate)
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Jugs = jugs of beer = ears
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Khyber = Khyber Pass = arse
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Kick and Prance = dance
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Lady Godiva = fiver (i.e. five- pound note)
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Lionels = Lionel Blairs (English variety performer) = flares (as in flared trousers)
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Loaf = loaf of bread = head ("use your loaf")
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Lucy Lockett = pocket
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Mickey Bliss = piss (as in "take the Mickey" = "take the piss" = satirise)
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Minces (or mincers) = mince pies = eyes
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Mutton = Mutt and Jeff = deaf = named after Mutt and Jeff , two early 20th century comic
strip characters
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Nobbies = Nobby Stiles (English footballer) = piles (haemorrhoids)
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North and South = mouth
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Oily rag = fag (i.e. cigarette)
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Ones and twos = shoes
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Orchestras = orchestra stalls = balls (Orchestra stalls = part of a concert or other hall.
Example = "A kick in the orchestras.") [Coincidentally, "orchi-" is also the Greek root meaning
"testicle."]
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Peckham Rye = tie (i.e. necktie)
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Pen and Ink = stink
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Pigs ears = big beers (large glasses of Ale )
Plaster = Plaster of Paris = Aris = Aristotle = bottle = bottle and glass = arse (a three-stage
rhyme)
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Plates = plates of meat = feet
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Porky = pork pie = lie, e.g. "He's telling porkies!"
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Pony = pony and trap = crap (note: Cockneys also use "pony" to mean £25 - hopefully the
meaning is clear from the context)
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Rabbit = rabbit and pork = talk
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Raspberry = raspberry tart = fart (as in "blowing raspberry/ies" = making rasping noises with
your mouth)
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Richard = Richard the Third = turd (lump of faeces)
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Richard = Dicky Bird = bird (slang for girl) but also Dicky Bird = word
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Rosie = Rosie Lee = tea e.g. "Have a cup of Rosie"
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Round the houses = trousers
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Rub-a-dub-dub = pub = public house
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Ruby = Ruby Murray (popular singer in the 1950s born in Belfast ) = curry
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Salmon and Trout = snout
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Scarper = Scapa Flow = go (as in "run for it!")
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Septic = septic tank = Yank (slang for an American)
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Sexton Blake = cake
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Sherbet Dab = (taxi) cab
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Skin = skin and blister = sister
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Sky = sky rocket = pocket
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sweaty = sweaty sock = jock = Scottish person
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Syrup / sirrup = syrup of figs = wig(s)
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Tea leaf = thief
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The Sweeney = Sweeney Todd =Flying Squad , a special division of the Metropolitan Police ;
used as the title of TV series The Sweeney
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Taters = Potatoes in the mould = cold
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Titfer = tit for tat = hat
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Tod = Tod Sloane = own (as in "on your tod", meaning "alone")
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Tom and Dick = sick
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Tomfoolery = jewellery
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Treacle = treacle tart = sweetheart
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Trouble = trouble and strife = wife
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Vera = Vera Lynn (famous British wartime singer)= 'skin' or cigarette paper, eg, "got any
Veras?", or chin, or gin
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Whistle = whistle and flute = suit = as in "a nice whistle"
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