English Rewind - London Life: Rhyming slang

Hello, Catherine here from BBC Learning English.

Just so you know, this programme is from the BBC Learning English archive.

It was originally broadcast in November 2006 on our website.

We hope you enjoy it!

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Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is London Life.

In the programme today, we take a brief look at rhyming slang,

an interesting form of vocabulary

where an expression which rhymes with the word you mean is used.

For example, the phrase 'boat race'.

The 'boat race' is a famous sporting event held in London,

but the phrase 'boat race' is also rhyming slang for 'face'.

'Race' rhymes with 'face'.

One of the features of rhyming slang

is that, often, the word that rhymes is not actually said.

So, for example, 'boat race' is shortened to just 'boat'.

'She's got a pretty boat' means 'she's got a pretty face'.

It's not unusual to hear rhyming slang expressions all over the country,

but perhaps it's best known as 'cockney rhyming slang'.

A cockney is someone who comes from a particular part of east London,

but what is rhyming slang and how did it come about?

Here's a true cockney, Larry Barnes, to explain.

What does he say the word 'slang' stands for

and where does he say 'rhyming slang' comes from?

Rhyming slang was originally, well, 's-lang',

'secret language',

whereas I was always taught, as a youngster,

it was the secret language of the markets, so that if a stallholder

wanted to talk to a stallholder on the opposite side of the street,

without the punters in the middle knowing what he was talking about,

he'd use rhyming slang.

He says that 'slang' stands for 's-lang',

a short form of 'secret language',

and that rhyming slang came from the markets.

The people who work on a market are the stallholders,

and if they wanted to talk to each other without the customers understanding,

they would use rhyming slang.

Now, notice he doesn't say the word 'customers',

he says the word 'punters',

which is another common slang expression for a customer, a 'punter'. Listen again.

Rhyming slang was originally, well, 's-lang',

'secret language',

whereas I was always taught, as a youngster,

it was the secret language of the markets, so that if a stallholder

wanted to talk to a stallholder on the opposite side of the street,

without the punters in the middle knowing what he was talking about,

he'd use rhyming slang.

He goes on to give an example of a sentence using traditional rhyming slang.

First, he gives the sentence in regular English

and then he gives the sentence in rhyming slang.

Have a listen. See if you can catch any of it.

He wouldn't say,

"Do you fancy a walk down the road to the pub for a quick pint of beer?"

He'd say, "Do you fancy a ball down the frog

"to the rubber for a quick pint of wallop?"

Hm, I think maybe that needs a little translation.

First, let's hear the normal English sentence again.

"Do you fancy a walk down the road to the pub for a quick pint of beer?"

"Do you fancy a walk down the road to the pub for a quick pint of beer?"

Now, what about the rhyming slang version?

"Do you fancy a ball down the frog to the rubber for a quick pint of wallop?"

"Do you fancy a ball down the frog to the rubber for a quick pint of wallop?"

Well, let's translate that now.

'Do you fancy', 'Would you like',

'a ball' — 'ball' is the shortened form of the expression 'ball of chalk',

which is cockney rhyming slang for 'walk'.

Next, we go 'down the frog'.

'Frog' is the shortened form of 'frog and toad',

which is rhyming slang for 'road'.

Then we have 'a quick pint of wallop'.

'Wallop' isn't rhyming slang, but it is an old slang word for 'beer'.

So putting that all together, we have,

'Do you fancy a ball down the frog for a quick pint of wallop?'

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A feature of rhyming slang is that it changes and develops.

A new book has just been published which updates rhyming slang.

It's called Shame About The Boat Race,

and Duncan Black works for its publisher, Collins.

He explains how celebrities and characters from television

have become part of rhyming slang and he mentions a number of celebrities.

Britney Spears is one of them.

What's her name rhyming slang for?

Well, generally, new slang terms tend to focus around pop culture and celebrities.

My personal favourite are 'Britneys' for 'Britney Spears, beers',

'Basil' as in 'Basil Fawlty, balti'

or 'Billie Piper' as in 'windscreen wiper'.

'Britney Spears, beers',

so now you can say you go down to the pub 'for a few Britneys'.

He also mentions some names from British television —

'Basil Fawlty', rhyming slang for the Indian food 'balti'

and 'Billie Piper', slang for 'windscreen wiper',

part of your car.

Making new rhyming slang is very easy and egalitarian.

'Egalitarian' means: anyone can do it,

it's not something that only specialists and experts can do.

Duncan Black explains how.

And it's very easy to use, it's egalitarian. Anyone can have a go.

You just need a name or something or someone which rhymes with something.

"Anyone can have a go," he says. Anyone can try it.

You just need a name which rhymes with something.

So why not have a go yourself?

Try and make a sentence in which you replace the name of an object

with the name of a celebrity which rhymes.

Well, that's all for today. I'm off to the Indian for a 'Basil' and some 'Britneys'.

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