How gay men used to speak - A short film in Polari
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 มิ.ย. 2015
- Polari was a form of slang used by gay men in Britain prior to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, used primarily as a coded way for them to discuss their experiences. It quickly fell out of use in the 70s, although several words entered mainstream English and are still used today. For more about Polari: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari
Written & Directed by Brian Fairbairn and Karl Eccleston
www.brianandkarl.com
/ brianandkarl
Maureen: Steve Wickenden
Roberta: Neil Chinneck
Director of Photography: Benjamin Barber
Camera Assist: Antonis Tsiakos
Sound Recordist: Patrick Casey
Sound Mixer: James Wright
Colourist: Jack McGinity
Edit: Brian Fairbairn and Karl Eccleston
Production Assistant: Brad Hoyland
Stills: Chris Parkes
/ brianandkarl - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
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Here's a basic summary for those who don't understand the slang: The setting is London in the 60's, when being gay was still illegal. Two gay men are on a bench. One comments that he doesn't like the book Clockwork Orange. Using coded language they check to see that one another is gay before letting their guard down and speaking frankly, ogling other men as they pass by, etc.
They gossip about a promiscuous mutual acquaintance that got thrown in prison after getting caught having sex with men. The one on the left then laments that he nearly got locked up himself once, after the cops came knocking right as he finished going down on a guy, but narrowly escaped by telling them there was a "poof" inside and ran as they arrested his lover. The one on the right is rightfully disgusted by this revelation and leaves.
Amelia Bee Spot on!
Amelia Bee thx Amelia, coming from french province in canada, makes it VERY difficult to get the british accent (even thought i LOVE IT!), just wish they did the subtitles ...
-Acting was good! cheers guys
Brian and Karl I love your shorts and how they challenge the viewer to truly look into language in ways they never thought of. Sorry if I ruined it, but I bet it's still fun to know the context and rewatch it to hunt out which words mean what!
Amelia Bee For sure! Cheers :)
Amelia Bee Okay. I had most of what was going on up till the end, thanks to context and previous experience watching and reading about code used for other things. I knew he had mentioned that he almost got caught, but I wasn't sure what it was exactly that had perturbed the other man.
Considering the scarfed bloke left his lover to take the fall, then yeah, I'd say the gent in the coat had every right to go from hot to cold.
Actually quite sad. It was funny right up until the one guy bragged about alerting the police to the presence of a gay man he'd just had sex with. I'm American, but over 50, and several of the terms and turns of phrase were still in use in my small town when I was a gay teen.
+Jo Wi
How? Most of this slang was used in Britian.
+AK I think many of the terms simply spread throughout gay circles. I don't mean we talked like the two men in the film. I mean some of the terms gained widespread appeal. How exactly language spreads is probably something several college courses would be needed to explain.
+AK Same way that a lot of gay men all over the World now use Black, American Gay slang. "Yaaaaaaaaaasss" "Slay" "Painted for the Gods" "Come through" "Throwing shade" "What's the T?" etc.
+Jo Wi Was he bragging or confessing?
Yeah, that one caught me by surprise. Wasn't expecting him to turn out to be a villain. He deserved that spit
The little details in this film are sublime.
It gives me a cold rock in the gut watching the other fella walk away, while cigarette man sits there. He doesn't wipe the spit away. He knows he deserves it. There's a level of self loathing there that some can only glimpse.
a confessional for those shunned by the church you could say.
Also a clockwork orange reference! At least for the movie, a scene where the guy's spit on and just lets it sit there in an agonizingly long shot.
Crying on the way to brunch now at this comment. Right after he says “they cure him in the end” referring to Alex from clockwork. Ouchies.
I came late to the gay culture and only understood some of the Polari. You were never to choose your own female name, it was given to you by another gay person. I wanted to be called Annabel but got given the name Myrtle. Oh joy! Anyway the cottaging was wonderful.
It's usually just a femanised version of the male name. Phyllis is probably Phillip
How many diseases did you catch doing this
The cottaging, eh? 😂
@@DavidTheRosshomophobia alive and well, I see.
@@DavidTheRossthere are more straight people with AIDS my love
So gay men used to speak a language straight men and women can't comprehend? damn
+Luk Skywalker hahahhahahahahahahahhaha
+Eighty / Active soon very very very very very funny
+0955interactive I know, that's kickass 8)
Yeah because homophobes are monsters.
It was a way for gay men to communicate with each other before it was illegal to be gay in 1967
Standard English Translation:
MAUREEN: I’ve read that.
MAUREEN: It’s all nonsense.
MAUREEN: The ending’s a disappointment too.
MAUREEN: Can you spare a cigarette, sweetheart?
MAUREEN: You from around here then?
ROBERTA: More or less.
MAUREEN: London’s the place to be… Nice shoes. What’s your size?
ROBERTA: Ten, I think.
MAUREEN: What about your HANDS? Are they a size ten too?
MAUREEN: I bet you know how to play the PIANO really well.
ROBERTA: Is this your usual spot?
MAUREEN: How do you mean?
ROBERTA: I know what you’re up to here, mate.
MAUREEN: Where do you live?
ROBERTA: Clitterhouse Road.
MAUREEN: I have a friend there. Pauline.
ROBERTA: Pauline Marsh?
MAUREEN: That’s the one. No matter what, I always find a FRIEND.
ROBERTA: How is Pauline?
MAUREEN: He’s had some bad luck. Dyed and totally ruined his hair.
ROBERTA: That’s not good. I hope he went straight to the hairdresser.
MAUREEN: That’s where he’d just been. The broad tried to give him a wig. Huge argument. Pauline told her to shove the wig up her arse.
ROBERTA: Did he really say that?
MAUREEN: Absolutely, and in plain English too.
ROBERTA: He’s all talk Pauline. Is he still with Phyllis then?
MAUREEN: Oh no. Haven’t you heard? He’s been a real whore. Sleeping around, picking up hustlers, trolling the back alleys. He actually had to be treated for STDs on two separate occasions last month.
ROBERTA: He didn’t.
MAUREEN: Pauline’s a complete wreck. Came home one night to find Phyllis blowing a Chinese guy he picked up in a toilet.
ROBERTA: Tell me more!
MAUREEN: It’s not looking good for Pauline. Broke, on the dole. He went in for a sex change and they had to redo the procedure.
ROBERTA: Speaking of genitals.
MAUREEN: He would rip you a new one.
ROBERTA: I can only hope.
MAUREEN: Mind you, the handsome ones do disappoint.
ROBERTA: Mmm.
MAUREEN: I was seeing this effeminate guy from Sheffield once. Feet the size of bowling pins. I thought I was in for a real fine fucking.
ROBERTA: Nothing to see downstairs?
MAUREEN:” Oh, tiny. You won't need any lube to get that one in.” I said when I saw it. Mind you, he shot a massive load of cum. I had to use heavy-duty detergent to clean his semen stains from my bed.
ROBERTA: Oh vile…
Not in film-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBERTA: What about this guy? Do you think he’s gay?
MAUREEN: Him? He’s totally gay.
ROBERTA: You think so?
MAUREEN: Ooh yeah. Just look at his shirt, Gay. Very Gay. Not to mention his trousers.
ROBERTA: I’d have sex with him, I would.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBERTA: Has Phyllis always been that way?
MAUREEN: He’s a walking sex club. An incredible stud. We were temping at a pharmacy. He blew me once while I was giving an old man his lice medicine.
ROBERTA: That’s skill, that.
MAUREEN: Oh, He used to do it all the time. When we were at the exchange together he’d have one hand on my erection and the other on the switch. He didn’t even get off the phone.
MAUREEN: Sad to think of him in prison really.
ROBERTA: What do you mean?
MAUREEN: He had a run in with the police.
ROBERTA: Oh dear.
MAUREEN: An undercover cop flashed his cock in the toilet.
ROBERTA: I hope he kept looking straight ahead.
MAUREEN: Well he’s cock-eyed, isn’t he? He can practically see sideways.
ROBERTA: What did the judge say?
MAUREEN: He was very harsh- asked if he was sorry.
ROBERTA: What did he say?
MAUREEN: Only that it wasn’t worth the look he got.
MAUREEN: I suppose we’ll all end up in prison soon enough.
MAUREEN: I nearly got arrested last week. I was blowing a young guy in that toilet near Clackett Lane, you know the one. [The ugliest face I’ve ever seen, but what a cock.] So I’m wiping my mouth as I walk outside when who do I run into but a cop. “There’s a queer in there” I said.
He caught the kid with his trousers down I suppose. He never saw what was coming. I’m sure it was a big commotion. Shame.
ROBERTA: You’re disgusting.
MAUREEN: What? Go on. Put your things in your little carryall. Off you go.
MAUREEN: You forgot your book… They cure him in the end.
Roberta spits in Maureen’s face.
Wombat EXCELLENT!
Brian and Karl Thanks. There were a few things that I just guessed on like, "She’s had nanti bully fake." = "he’s had some bad luck."
Anything else I was really off on?
Brian and Karl BTW Excellent work!!! Moulte bona!!!
Wombat Eine = London, so "London's the place to be"
Battersea'd twice last month = had to be treated for STDs on 2 separate occasions last month.
Oh, bijou. You needn't put the brandy on for that = Oh, tiny. You won't need any lube to get that one in.
Sharpie = policeman
Otherwise all pretty much exactly right. Nice one
Brian and Karl Thanks. I added your changes.
Apart from being linguistically interesting, this was also dramatically effective. That final shot where Maureen's spat in Roberta's face and he doesn't trouble to wipe it off is very poignant.
It was also referencing some other sticky liquid one might get on ones face after a meet up with another queer
is it a sequel for "How English sounds to non-English speakers" ?
Amir Asadi no, this is how people used to speak.
This is how **gay** people used to speak.
Michael Taylor it is english slang mixed with polari
😂😂😂
In really is not. Just an another inglish LOL
I pretty basic summary/translation: they kind of confirm their shared sexuality with the vocab, scarf guy asks where trenchcoat lives and mentions he knows someone who lives nearby, apparently a mutual friend named "Pauline" (these are nicknames for gay men, likely so they don't know each others real names outside of the community for safety's sake).
They gossip about Pauline, she had a bad dye job, she caught her partner cheating (although she's been pretty unfaithful too, including hooking up w/ male prostitutes), and that she's broke and on welfare (they also seem to say she pretty nuts in general). She's apparently done it with scarf guy a couple times, too. She's also recently been baited by a cop in a public toilet and thrown in jail for homosexuality.
Scarf guy mentions he'd nearly been caught too: he had just finished blowing a guy in a public bathroom and ran into a cop outside, so in order to get the heat off of himself, he ratted on the guy he'd just blown and he got arrested instead.
Trenchcoat is pissed scarf guy would betray a fellow gay man and leaves. Upon retrieving his book, scarf guy tells him "they cure him in the end (of the book)", alluding to the history of conversion therapy on homosexuals.
LMC123 thank you!
What is the book? i can't read the title
JANXDPDX A Clockwork Orange
Am I correct in understanding that "Pauline" (or someone she associated with) got a sex change ("remould") and then got it reversed ("they had to fake her basket")?
thank you for this!
"They cure him in the end"
_Yeesh_ the possible double meaning there sent shivers down my spine
lmao it was just him spoiling the end of the book "clockwork orange "
The best thing is that it isn't even true. He seems cured, but still has his desires at the end.
@@GuyNamedSean ‘I *was* cured, all right.’
@@GuyNamedSean just like conversion therapy
@@marcusaureliusatoninus5947yeah, but it's not a real cure and it certainly doesn't take (just like conversion). However, the real ending in the book which was left out of the film has him growing and maturing out of his murderous phase. He looks at pictures of babies and envies a bloke with a family who views him as childish. Essentially he gets too old to go on teen rampages which is what the book is actually addressing. Usually gets left out of analysis because the other stuff is so much 'fun', but that's the part the author thought was the most important.
Cool! In the Philippines, we have "Swardspeak" - a language made and used by PH gays. Still the way many gay men speak in the PH tbqh. :))
Would love to see a film about Swardspeak!
this swardspeak recently evolved into beki and its other derivatives. They are more popular than ever, even straights use some terms now. :D
Yea, real thing. There are way too much Phil. pop culture references being put in for me to keep up with though.
What is "PH gays"?
+Ebony Dubois Philippine gays
I'm gay and couldn't understand a fucking word past "I've read that"
wyatt dileo same
Thats why it's called used to speak
same here lol!!!!!!!
The accent is kind of thick and the slang makes it more confusing to understand lmao
That's how I feel about anyone under the age of 25 talking to me.
It sounds like another language.
wtf
It litterally is, it's amazing
Tecnologia I understand each word individually but it's so much double entendre and slang that it both makes sense and it doesn't like I understand you but I don't get what your saying.
Tecnologia Joke or irony?
Tecnologia haha reading your comment, hearing this accent, totally reminded me of this th-cam.com/video/bj9sJLzaKpQ/w-d-xo.html
Scary that I understood all of this ! It was still common in the 70’s in London generally, and when I was in the merchant navy it was all we spoke on deck and in the mess - even straight guys spoke polari at sea. It was rife on P&O and Cunard.
Born out of necessity..... I suppose.. There use to be a secret language in London underground used by the criminal world called
CAN'T or KANT.
Of fucking course it was the navy
It was used by Sailors, Actors, Circus performers, criminals and all sorts of counter cultures that hid from the police and it's spread into modern slang
Still is dangerous in London but the hatred comes from other cultures. Look recently with the protests from certain communities that don't want their children to learn there are same-sex couples out there ironic they want to be respected themselves yet don't respect other people.
How did you guys learn this though? And how practical was it?
Wouldn’t it be obvious to all the straight people, if you’re talking in code?
“Hmm these two guys are talking in code, so clearly they are friends of Dorothy (can’t say any bad words on TH-cam otherwise they censor)”
It would be cool if we could get subtitles for translation.
Also accessibility
This is a pretty good annotation: genius.com/8492128
@@RogertheGS wow thanks for sharing! That's fantastic!
There’s a good translation in the comments section - look for wombat2823’s comment
The Morrissey album "Bona Drag" is Polari for "nice outfit"
Not only that, but in a song off that album called Piccadilly Palare, which is about male prostitution, there's a lyric where he says "so bona to vada! Oh, you! Your lovely eek, and your lovely riah!" Which I've been told means "so good to see you, your lovely face and your lovely hair."
killercereal that’s right...riah is hair backwards
I can't tell what is normal British slang and what is the Polari.... American struggles hahah
+Shapoot "British slang" really doesn't make sense, what is present is mostly is more English slang, and more northern slang at that. as someone who has lived in England my entire life I was only able to pick out a few words myself, I gathered context for most of the words from the intonation in their speech XD
+SuperNeonManGuy lol very northern, when i heard him say nosh i almost died hahaha. a lot of this stuff is still used today.
+Shapoot Exactly, they could re-upload this video as "How British English sounds to Americans" and no one would blink an eye.
SAME
English is my second language and I understand everything Americans and British say. So I don't get how you -Americans- aren't able to understand British people. Is like Spanish people saying that don't understand Mexicans, that's makes no sense to me.
Oh my God--incredibly powerful. You feel almost cozy and warm toward the first guy until he reveals his awful deed. Then you think, what kind of a world WAS that, where you had to throw your very closest under the bus, just to survive?
SnoriSnorison I feel stupid asking, but what did he do exactly? I understood less than 10% of what he was saying.
diamond clark Now, from context clues, I understood that he was almost arrested, but ratted out his partner to throw suspicion off himself and save his own skin.
michelledalenaa Thank you for explaining... I had to go back and listen carefully, but I can sort of gather that now.
I watched the video for a second time with the Polari lexicon open onscreen and DID have to look up quite a few words--but I knew when the first guy told the cop,"There's a pouf in there" from the first viewing that he had betrayed his sex partner just to save his own skin. What a terrible world that must have been!
SnoriSnorison *Survive?* Good grief...That is certainly a melodramatic concept. We are actually watching the same video? You are describing one who is actually just trying to get laid by someone of the same sex as someone who is trying to "survive"?...Survival of the human species, much less even the individuals involved, is certainly *not* the objective being portrayed...Good grief.
I'd a spit on him too. How could he throw someone under the wheel instead of him!? Thats cowardice. Especially the guy he just hooked up with.
I don't know you, but can I write a song about you?
I didn't feel like that was the case at all. He did say _he_ almost got arrested, did he not? He pointed them to the other guy to shift suspission off him. I know myself, I would have done the same. Self-preservation before kindness.
What we should be outraged about is the police targeting them, criminalizing them. Something that is still true in most of our world today.
It seemed to me the guy hated himself for what he did, I mean he was the one who dredged the act up, and he didn't wipe a drop of the spit from his face.
It's a really good ending.
wiggle waggle Agreed!
well, that, but i think the straw that broke the camel's back was his spoiling the ending of the book he was reading.
so the dude who got spit on is relating a story (at least at the end) of where he turned in another gay dude to the police and then spoils the book ending for the other dude. that's about what I could glean from it. fascinating vid.
I thought it was a bit extreme to spit in someone's face for spoiling the end of a book.
i think it was also for what he did to betray a gay man
I thought that was a reference to the hormone therapy they'd likely give to the man he betrayed to 'de-gay' him
playingforbritain
He was reading a Clockwork Orange. They cured him from being a sociopath...
Not much of a spoiler though.
Zipkik Too that was a spoiler in the time period this happened, when it wasn’t some old book lol
I find it really hard to know the difference, if they're using slang for 'gayness'. It sounded like they were spies using a secret code, plus the accent is British. I'm American, so yeah I have no flipping clue what's really going on.
robert williams Back when homosexuality was strictly criminalized, they pretty much *had* to be spies.
+wohdinhel probably thats why English spies look like gays
+Andrea Llewellyn i didn't understand a lot of the terminology, but enough to get the gist most of the time, then at the little story at the end suddenly i understood most of the terms and the meaning was clear as a bell.
It's obvious that it all revolves around Phyllis being a walking meat rack.
I find it amazing you do not recognize some of it Robert. Because back when I was a youngster, the queens and hustlers all used the American version of polari and ti contained many but not all of the words our British cousins used. We did not say Betty Bracelet, we said Betty Badge but chicken, basket, buns, butch, camp, dish, dizzy, drag, and others were all used as were others - seafood, trade etc.
I'm a linguaphile and you guys are a freaking goldmine. Thank you so much for making these! The amount of care you went to with this and the "English" film are amazing. They both show two opposite traits: this one is very empathetic...getting inside each person's head and knowing where they're coming from and where they (kind of) want to be going. "English" is the flipside: a film made completely for it's face value, and it works perfectly. Thank you for doing these!
+40thCapeRifles Cheers!
+40thCapeRifles "linguaphile", I didn't know it was a word. I guess I'm a linguaphile too.
You might be interested in "Julian and Sandy" in "Round the Horne".
linguaphile eh? so you like having sex with languages.
I dont think you inderstand the definition of "phile". Phile simply means to have a strong fondness for something, a pluviophile for instance is someone who likes rainy or wet weather
Even aside from the Polari aspect of it, this was actually a really good little short. You have the suspense of Book Guy's reaction, and Scarf Guy's talking about everything and then it twists into him relating a shameful act and the little confrontation that ensues. You kind of know a little about these men, but just glimpses and vague impressions, but it's enough to grab your interest. Although I was reading someone's comment translation below to kind of keep up, I think it would've still been an impactful little moment if you saw it in more modern English. It's like a little scene you'd find in a larger film, you could see it easily slotting into a full length movie about either or both of these men. At the same time, it's nice and complete on it's own. I dig it. Even though I would probably have no clue what was being said if I came across it in person.
The laugh they share at 4:27 is really sweet and natural. As if they can finally relax for a few precious seconds and be themselves without so much stress and fear. Pity it doesn't end well.
What on earth are you talking about?
@@mattybrunolucaszeneresalas9072He ratted on another gay guy.
He also alluded to conversion therapy.
Can gay men just start talking like this again?
+Jack Caliber God yes, let's have something for gay men only, something these pansexual transgendered unicornkin kids can't try to reclaim.
+8tsunami7 I can see why you'd want to reawaken a lost language, but what's with the 'us and them'? Homosexuality isn't a club is it? Doesn't that sort of attitude increase the likelihood of homophobia?
+Joy Grieve No it isn't a club, but gay is a demographic (a distinct portion of the human population).
I don't know what you were on about with the 'us and them' but yes there are things for gay men only...
I know you mean well and you are obviously against homophobia but you should realise that silly statement/questions like 'Homosexuality isn't a club is it?' are the sort of thing that increases the likelihood of homophobia (through convolution).
I called your question silly because i am too brain-dead to think of a more suitable adjective right now.
+Jack Caliber No thank you. This sounds like some kind of strange amalgamation of English, German, Italian and French. It's making me dizzy.
+Luk Skywalker Then don't bother with those kinds of people, and go be happy in your own social circle. Live and let live. No one is making you fornicate with them.
Turn on subtitles for this. Trust me.
+Joshua Lin that was the exact opposite of anything helpful.
+solidstatenasty I think he was being sarcastic.
+Joshua Lin I don't trust you anymore x)
as if we didn't try that
My mother worked in a couple of large, local theatres when I was growing up & I used to hear some of the regular staff & actors talking like this, but never knew what it was. Of course we also had "Jules & Sandy" in the radio show "Round the Horne" & they'd drop Polari into their comedy routines. I do hope that someone is preserving this & it doesn't become lost forever.
Now i know why alan turing was so good at codding and decoding codes
It's like I'm reading A Clockwork Orange all over again.
JPxKillz And isn't that glorious . . . :P
(Actually, I wouldn't know. I am being a poser. I have watched and loved/despised the film though! It was horrible and wonderful.)
@@oof-rr5nfit’s boring
How???
Brilliantly done, guys. I was quite surprised at how much I was able to catch, probably because some words and most of the intonation was like Cockney, which I can generally comprehend.
And, too, the setup - I know what it was like for gay men in England at that time, so the last part was very clear. The actors did a great job of putting it over.
A very well-done piece of cultural history, I'd say. Congratulations.
+Leigh Williams Thanks very much :)
I'm a non-native but very experienced English speaker and only got every second word...
+voilaviolamh okay that explains a lot
english is my first language and i barely got any of what they were saying. i am american though, california specifically, so maybe that's why
Nope. I'm full on English, I got some of it, the bits that have been loaned into standard British English for example, but a lot of it is confusing.
I'm a native speaker, and I didn't get much, either. Likely due to being slang words that are no longer used, and it didn't help that they were speaking fast.
I'm British, and although I know a few of the most common Polari words, there's a lot in the film that I've had to check!
they cure em in the end.. dark
'She' means 'He' ..that's about as much as I got
Long story short, Roberta (scarf) succeed off a guy in the bathroom and just as he walked out wrong his mouth the cops come out (one of your ugly daughters) so he had to say that he just found a gay in the bathroom and act like any other straight guy would react at the time, or else Roberta would get arrested. It was inevitable.
what
I got it as ogle which means attractive to look at
Emery Leger no it doesn't. Ogle is a verb meaning to stare leeringly or lecherously. You wouldn't say "that person was an ogle" but you would say "I ogled that person"
Hazel Grey that’s like one sixth of their conversation lol
Almost thought this was another "How English sounds to non-native speakers" video
For non-English viewers: whilst some polari words have entered mainstream English, a lot of the words and figures of speech used in this video (that you may not understand) are not actually polari, but pretty standard English slang (e.g., 'swing a cat', 'all wind and piss', 'stretcher case', 'noshed me off', 'khazi', 'beak', 'nabbed', 'mincing', 'poof', 'dish the dirt', 'scarper') or Cockney rhyming slang (e.g., 'plates' (meaning feet in this film)).
Absolute masterpiece. I'd definitely watch a feature length film based on just this short scene honestly, set in the 60s and featuring these two brilliant actors. As is though it's fuckin excellent on its own
The screenplay is on our Tumblr for anyone who is curious. Go to brianandkarl.tumblr.com/post/122421969778/heres-the-screenplay-for-putting-on-the-dish-for
Brian and Karl Based on the dialogue and format, it wasn't an accident that one of them is reading A Clockwork Orange, is it? :3
Amelia Bee Definitely not an accident ;)
+Brian and Karl Where did you find the lexicon for Polari? Was it from someone who spoke it? I ask cause I'm fascinated by this language/ cant
+David Beacham Lots of Googling - there's loads of great resources online. Also, Paul Baker compiled an excellent glossary of Polari words which you can buy on Amazon.
+David Beacham 'The Queen's English'
amazing stuff ... Growing up in Overland Park Kansas in the late 60's the kids in our neighborhood invented our own language so we could talk around our parents .. and IT WORKED !! We called it "Guivin" . there were 2 levels of speech and it was quite easy to learn and understand to a youthful ear
+Mark Boston
tell us more, was it polari esk or some other?
thank you.
pjd
It bothers me that the book he's reading is the 1972 reprint but it's set pre 1967. I need to get out more.
At least you identified the real problem 😂
english not being my first language plus the slangs that was incredible difficult for me to understand
you wouldn't want to understand it ... it's all about stories of men sucking each other's cocks and taking it up the ass
Handsome_Hero lmao
It's two gay men, at a time when homosexuality was illegal in the UK, discussing their escapades and people they know, when the smoking man confesses that, after an encounter in a public restroom, he gave the man he'd just had sex with away to the police. This makes the man with the book angry, because he betrayed a fellow homosexual man.
That's what my understanding of it was too. I'm not familiar with polari but managed to make sense of a few words that have seeped into modern slang.
-_-
This is awesome if I ever decide to jump in my DeLorean, go back to the 60's and get blown by a dude.
This fuxking killed me and i dont know why 😂😂😂
He would just leave you to the cops.
please add subs for what they mean? I didn't get any of that?
Thanks for posting this. The linguist in me enjoys the dialogue and the anthropologist in me finds it utterly fascinating.
This is the only sort of conversation that you could have in Polari, a conversation about sex.
So, this isn't "How gay men used to speak" or "a coded way for them to discuss their experiences" It was how a certain clique of English gay men used to speak about their homosexual experiences.
A gay businessman talking to his gay accountant about this year's tax liabilities or one gay member of parliament talking to another gay member of parliament about the ongoing international situation aren't going to be talking like this.
There was some cross over between Polari and the other sub cultural slangs of the theater and the criminal underworld, in which case you could also talk about putting on a show or robbing people.
Flipping back and forth, the initial bit about Pauline is fairly ordinary gossip about somebody who did such a bad home dye job that the hairstylist recommended he buy a wig.
@@Eloraurora the hair, the wigs, the make-up and clothes all as aspects of sexual display, as preludes to the act. What are the terms for cold weather or working clothes in Polari?
Where are the terms for different weather conditions, food and drink or members of the extended family? In Polari slang you could talk about going to the market and trading for gay sex, but you couldn't talk about going to the market and trading for rice and beans.
You could talk about going to the doctor to get a sexually transmitted disease treated but not to get broken bones set or to the dentist to get teeth pulled.
How would you speak of the birth of a child or the slow aging and death of a grandparent in Polari?
These are the fundamental aspects of human life, not cruising for gay sex in nightclubs . Polari is not the language of a culture it is the slang of a sexual subculture.
i can't understand a damn thing omfg
It's not that hard to be honest
User Annoymous That's the point. You have to dig to find the context, and in doing so you get a real feel for what these men have been through. Once you decipher it the film becomes very dark, indeed.
+User Annoymous
Totally... some subtitles could help a lot.
+Xólotl Mēxihcah Where is the transcript? Surely that wudve helped
no me neither
Pretty much the only part I understood was the horrible thing cigarette man did!
Cigarette man met some guy for a sexual encounter, maybe in a public toilet. When he exited the toilet he saw someone else, maybe a policeman (I'm not sure) who may have been inspecting the place to find and arrest men engaging in gay sex. In order to distance himself from the person he just engaged in sex with, he told the policeman that there was a gay guy in the toilet. I may have gotten some of the details wrong but I've no idea what most of those words meant. In any case, I think he threw someone else under the bus to save himself.
Thats why I got out of that too. Even though I didn't understand a lot(most) of the dialogue I found it entertaining. I came out in the NYC(Pier) Black and Latino youth of the 80's and 90's. We had our own slang (Mostly used by straight people now, go figure) it was always fun speaking on the PATH, Subway anywhere straight and not having people knowing what you were saying. Much like Patois or any form of geographical or ethnic slang. I love how individual and unique we are in our sameness lol.
Greg Jacques awesome profile picture
If one guy gives another man a cigarette, which one's cigarette man then?
@@rupert274 yup. He said the police man caught the poor guy with his pants down.
This short film is really bloody interesting in more ways than one. Exceptionally well produced too. Good job, guys. I'm just glad the Britain I live in now isn't quite the same as it was back then - I'm already learning French, I don't need to learn Polari too!
That Morrissey song makes so much more sense now.
David Mireles “Piccadilly Polari.”
really clever allusion to a clockwork orange
+Aidan Yakymyshyn More than allusion. The guy on the right was reading the damn book :P
+SoulOfTheReaver "They cure him in the end"
+Karl Montague "They cure 'em in the end" "'em" being short for them.
Road Hawk
I'm actually quite sure the line refers to the character Alex from a Clockwork Orange, therefore "him".
Road Hawk He was reading Clockwork Orange, a book about nature and society's right (or not) to change behaviour through oppression.
In the book, Alex - the violent protagonist - is "cured" of his deviant ways by an intrusive and torturous procedure.
In this short film, it is used as a symbol of the perceptions surrounding homosexuality at the time. "Would you take a cure if they found one?" Some - even in the gay community - were holding out for a cure at the time, believing gay people to have a mental or hormonal illness.
This last line "They cure him in the end" is a cutting remark about acceptance of one's true nature, and society's right (or not) to impose restrictions on those feelings.
Nice reference to Nadsat there with the book
+Angelo Suarez (Death Grips) Well spotted :P
I noticed that too :D
I love that book. The movie was great, too.
0:23 wait, did he just swallowed the smoke he inhaled?
I was trolling round for a varder and I'm so glad I found these omi-palones. The left one is bold as brass but such bona lallies.
1:48, comparing size?
1:58, I bet you're good at (insert? position and act)?
2:02, Asking if this is his stake out post?
2:06, identifying and acknowledging orientation?
2:17, Where do you perform X acts?
2:24, Identifying another of said orientation and exchanging experiences?
2:28-2:45, exchanging endeavors performed with "Paul/Pauline?"
2:52-3:07, Different acts Paul/ine has done or will do?
3:14, Suspicions cast on "Paul/ine," he was found out and had a weak alibi?
3:20, checking out the guy
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari
This is simply brilliant. There is a point when you begin to understand it simply through context. I'm American and also struggled to discern Polari from just British English, but after awhile that fell away and it all made sense even if I didn't know the actual words they were saying. The clandestine nature of it did resemble a spy meeting.
Polari didn’t exist. She just made it up
I'm so confused, I feel like I'm watching A Clockwork Orange again... But I did notice the code-switch when they both felt safe.
VERY well-acted, well-shot and well-written film. Thank the algorithm for letting me see this, and also, thanks everyone for clarifying the polari used. It puts me in mind of those great Kenneth Williams documentaries from the 80s (available on here on TH-cam) which talk of a bygone age not too far in the past. Thank god for decriminalisation and thank everyone for being more tolerant!
Gay slang has entered into normal British English. Very common to hear people say "naff" and "zhoozh".
That's a bloody excellently written and performed piece. Needed to pause a handful of times to check glossary but by the end I was understanding well enough.
Wow. I wish I saw this long ago.
Here is the best summary, criticism and compliment you can receive:
As a hetero American, I did not know ANY expression they said, but I understood EVERYTHING they acted.
The character development, setting , theme and conflicts were clear and understandable.
They could have been speaking Mandarin and I still would have enjoyed it.
Brilliant.
You know I’m not proud to admit it but I used to be homophobic. That’s no longer the case because as I actually met gay people growing up they were some of the best friends I had and were just in the closest. I was never gay myself but I was pretty feminine, into fashion and all that, raised by a single mother which is why I had feminine traits. So I got picked on which was why I used to project that same hate into actual gay people. Anyways seeing this is heartbreaking. Having to hide like that, being in constant fear of being found out. It makes me sad people even went through this and that there were gay people who never got to live long enough to be free.
Cool story bro? Not sure how that works but okay. Uhhh what’s fashion got to do with being feminine? We wear clothes too
This is quality, I could listen to a whole movie like this.
I love how Maureen just sits there with the spit dripping from his face. Like he's thinking, 'Yeah, I probably deserved that.'
Omg this is the same channel who did the "How English sounds to Non-English speakers" video?! You guys are amazing.
As an apprentice 'crimper' in the west end during the 1970's I learnt a lot of Polari from fellow co-workers and theatre people who came into VS for cheap/free hair cuts in the model school. 'Vardaring' was an actual term used for newly qualified 'crimpers' who would 'hold hair' and watch the most experienced 'crimpers' I loved hearing the campest of my colleagues when they went off on one describing events (usually sexual) in Polari "Ooooooh! varda the dolly ecaf on the bona omi I'd like to get my lils on her dish.
I’m brushing up on my Polari, I want to be able to say I can speak gay.
“Oooo! Look at the hot face on the cute guy, I’d like to get my hands on his (technically feet, but slang for cock)”
Did I get that right?
Vada the omipalone's cod old eek at the end!
Mmm...indeed...
It's interesting that they swap the gender of their former partners to hide it.
The performances in both your films are excellent! Same with the background sounds/music.
What a superb little piece of drama this is. Very well made.
This was great, it somehow understandable despite not knowing what they're saying. toggleable captions would be nice to watch it again!
Morrissey's Piccadilly Palare from his Bona Drag album introduced me to Polari ages ago. I was excited to recognize it in Velvet Goldmine. Thank you for making this film! - an admiring American mom.
Wow! thank you so much for all the effort that went into this video! This was really interesting :)
Can I get an English translation for this thank you v much?
I am a native English speaker (American English), and I think I understand French better than I understood this.
Can you sub it with conventional english?
Loving the cinematography, the coloring, the editing, the costume design and the concept! Im a native English (American) speaker and its like im hearing a different language! I wish there were subtitles for the actual meanings
really superb work all around, just exceptional. thank you for making this :)
Could you provide subtitles, probably even translation? :)
I understood more of this than I was expecting considering my only experience with polari thus far is a brief glance through an informal dictionary I found online, excusing words like naff that have become common british speak.
you guys are excellent! take your time and do more of your original content plssss!!
I can't understand a word.
Was it wrong to interpret a vaguely sexual undertone in the spit dripping off the man's face in the end?
I think it’s allowable. Felt like a “better than nothing” kind of thing, like the scorn of being spat in the face was better than being alone maybe. In addition to the shame of course. His face when he takes another drag, through the spittle… really powerful performance!
Am I the only one who thinks this sounds a bit like nadsat? The slang uses in clockwork Orange?
That's partly what Nadsat's based on, I think
I was hearing all of that slang too! I loved that book, i could never forget.
I thought Clockwork Orange was mostly Russian based,i.e. horrorshow = horosho(good/OK),Droogs ,devotchka,etc.
When can I see a transcription of what they’re saying here? The standard English translation is really helpful, but I’d love to be able to read along.
Well done piece! I barely have the gist of what was going on and still compelled to watch again, fascinating.
Our lost language. Thank you for this.
A lot of this is actually still used in Britian to this day! if you look on the wiki they provide in the description, there's word like "drag" "naff" "ogle" "slap" and "todd" which are used by many people these days! It'll never die.
Good to know ; ) I heard it started in the Piccadilly Circus area.
3:16
Guy with Tie: Speaking of baskets....
Guy with Scarf: Gloria! That'll stretch ya Corybungus
Guy with Tie: Fortuni...
Use the wikipedia page to translate this, or just watch and infer. Hilarious either way!
Pleasure to watch this :)
You should include a bit of a glossary. This was fascinating and well acted and produced.
was looking for info about hidden languages. . excellent. . and I'm delighted there are no subtitles. .. I'll have to look it up. great piece. well done
I've watched this maybe 20 times in the last week. Absolutely fantastic. Tragic that a language like this needed to be created though ❤
So gay men used to have British accents?
lol
It says "a slang used by gay men in Britain" so I think it's pretty clear that he has the accent because he's British
British gay man have British accents. You're American, right?
wow, you have 20 (probably Americans) are adding to the stereotype that you all are dumb AF.
Yes all gays used to speak with British accent it was really wierd in non-englih-speaking countries, but those times was so wierd in general so no one found this particularly wierd those days.
Fantastically filmed and hugely interesting. Thank you.
This channel is great!
translation?
vol starr They're talking bullshit, basically Dude #1 introduces himself, talks about a person who harbors a lot of gay people in her home and how she's been sick, then Dude #1 mentions that he "nearly got nabbed" himself, explains that he told a police officer where to find another gay man just so he didn't get caught, (homosexuality was illegal at the time) and Dude #2 gets angry at Dude #1 because Dude #1 is an asshole.
Oh. That makes sense.
it shares a heck of a lot in common with cockney rhyming slang, I did understand a fair amount of it, giggled at "Khyber" (Khyber pass - arse)
I really want to see a full movie with this kind of narrative camerawork.
I didn't quite catch a glimpse at what book the man on the right was reading. Anyone catch that?
Someone needs to put some effort into accurate captions. If the terminology isn't known to most people, how are they going to understand it from this?
Ah, so is this cant the origin of the words "naff" and "palaver"? Fascinating, I never realised how enciphered Polari was, I assumed it was something akin to pig Latin. Awesome little short, thank god most countries have come to their senses regarding same-sex attraction.
That’s not polari. I dunno why she calls it that since the “code” stoped right after confirming they both didn’t like clockwork orange lol
It’s basic northern English slang
This is bloody brilliant!!! It reminds me of Cockney Rhyming slang, my mother still uses it all the time and it confuses me so much.
Fascinating stuff. I knew of Polari from the old radio show "Round the Horn" with Kenneth Williams. So interesting to hear it in actual conversation.