What and/or who is a cockney?
A cockney is someone who is native to East London, traditionally one born within hearing of the Bow Bells (church). Cockneys are known for being the hardworking, middle class commoners of London. Cockney rhyming slang is a form of phrase construction in the English language. It works by replacing a word by a rhyming phrase to that word but then the rhyming word is dropped. Tracing back its origins, it has been said to have once been spoken by the thieves of London as a code, being incomprehensible to the authorities or any eavesdropper listening in. It was developed in the 1800's and evolved from different locations in London. Terms such as "Barnet Fair" (hair) and "Hampstead Heath" (teeth) arose during this time relating popular places in London to body parts. By the mid 20th century, cockney slang turned toward using names of contemporary personalities such as "Gregory Peck" meaning "neck" and also "check". "Ruby Murray" meaning "curry" and "Henry Halls" for "balls (testicles)" also came out during this time. Modern cockney slang can take any form such a "Britney Spears" for "beers" to "Hank Marvin" if you're starvin'. This dialect has become a sense of pride of the hardworking, middle class Londoners and acts as almost a second language to some.
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How it works |
Pretty much every body part has a cockney slang rhyme that can replace it. From your 'plates of meat' (feet) to your dodgy 'barnet fair' (hair), you're covered in cockney slang. To converse, you must drop the rhyming word to conserve the 'secret' languages' identity. So if you saw a girl with pretty eyes you would tell your mate "have a butchers at that Richard's minces". 'Butcher's hook' means to look, 'Richard the Third' means bird (girl) and 'mince pies' stands for "lies" or in this case "eyes". It is not uncommon for some cockney phrases to have multiple meanings.
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