I have an elderly friend who is cockney. He was born in a subway station during the Blitz, but definitely within the sound of the Bow Bells. His parents spoke with a distinct Cockney accent and used rhyming slang, so he did as well. He moved to the US in the early 1960s and learned to avoid using rhyming slang, because people couldn't understand what he was saying. However, he is now dealing with dementia, and his rhyming slang has returned with a vengeance. I have no idea of what he's saying half the time. As an aside, I participated in a quarter peal attempt at St Mary-le-Bow back in 1977, so I've rung the Bow bells. However, I was born halfway around the world in Indiana.🔔
@@John-Smith-999 I'm afraid not. Hence the word "attempt." We were a bunch of American ringers and most of us had never rung anything on 12 bells, so we crashed out pretty quickly. But it was a wonderful experience ringing those bells.
Hope you can 20:29 document your friends story Library of Conngress Storycorp? I know what’s a commitment But it’s a great story Or audio record when he’s having a good day and put it out on Amazon. I know you have other work to do😮
My favourite Cockney rhyming slang word is "plaster" for "bottom". It's short for "plaster of Paris", which rhymes with "Aris", which is short for "Aristotle', which rhymes with "bottle", which is short for "bottle and glass", which rhymes with "arse".
@@Sdragnastynot sure this is authentic Cockney words. Sorry I an born and bread Cockney. Sorry I don’t know orreconise the words use, sorry they ain’t Cockney🏴🇬🇧
True about Aris or 'arris, never heard the plaster extension, though. I was going to refer to this when Dr. Kat said Direct rhyme, this is a variant, the Indirect rhyme
My mother - long time dead - used to delight in telling people she was a Cockney, even though she came from Northumbrian stock. Her parents had gone to London to visit family when my grandmother went into labour a bit earlier than expected. So, not only was my mother born within the sound of Bow Bells, but also in the pub owned by her relatives. And, to emulate this, my mother certainly enjoyed a “smalll snifter” until her death at nearly 90 years old.
When I was at school in London in the 50's and 60's, calling someone a 'burk' for doing something silly was very common. We all used it, but had no idea of what it was slang for.
I am Canadian, from Ontario. I watch the television show "Call the Midwife" and this video has helped me understand what some of the dialogue literally means! I am so happy to watch these videos. I love them!
I understood about half of your cockney slang (Thank you, Terry Pratchett.), but it was fascinating to learn the rest. As always, thanks for another enlightening and engrossing video!🤟
I love dialect. Im from Maine, USA, where we are noted for accent living now in the South, my wife is from Perth, Scotland and most of my nieces and nephews are Scousers...we have a wonderful language. This was great!
I am Australian and we use a lot of Cockney rhyming slang. Someone said accents, like ours happened because of the time the country was inhabited by the British. Americans have a different accent because of they were inhabited earlier. I know many people who try to copy the Australian accent often sound more Cockney to me than Australian. Here’s an example of Melbourne rhyming slang. “Wore his new bag of fruit down the rubbity, got Mozart and List and got the old heave ho from the trouble and strife. “
An absolutely fascinating look at how regional dialects and ways of speaking may have developed, using Cockney from the London East End, and how the entire language of a region can be changed over time.
down the stairs to avoid a deaf wife, get on the phone with my mate so i don't have to go to the pub on my own. Maybe a go for a curry afterwards if he is not too tired then home for a cup of tea
Thank you for an abfab discussion of Cockney. What linguistic agility is required to translate as an outsider. Congratulations to you and your hubby on the healthy delivery of your second son! How do you keep so many balls in the air with such grace, wit, scholarship, and good humor?Respect.
"I suppose everyone needs a hobby" I'm dead hahahaha To be fair, that's the kind of juvenile energy that I vibe with and I can't wait to cryptically use it around my husband directed to various different things until he figures out what the heck it is I'm saying.
Love it! I'm a New Yorker who lived in London for two years. I'm proud to say I knew 3 of the words! I guess that makes me either an aspiring Mockney, or just a person who loves words.
Oh wow did this bring me back! Grammy was a Londoner, and yes could hear the Bow Bells. My favorite of her expressions was " Inky Pinky" = Stinky! And she frequently went up the Apples and pares= stairs. Born in 1900 arrived in New England in 1925 and she died in 1985 - miss her still! Thanks for bringing back a bit of my childhood!
Thank you, Dr.Kat! I had no idea what you were saying, at first. I'm an American. You explained it well. Hopefully, the teacher did not know what she was really saying, lol! ❤
As an authentic born and bred Cockney. Born in Guys Hospital, Southwark, within the sound of Bow Bells Church. I trace my Dad’s family living and owning business in Cheapside in 1720. Working as Carpenters, (family name Cartwright) or Weavers. Great video, thank you. Unfortunately the Cockney accent is disappearing in London. Becoming known as Estry, after the Thames Eastry. Indeed the popularity of a hip Hop singers has now become more Jamaican sounding, mockney). I notice when Invisited New York earliervthis year I could sound echos of a London accent in their speach. Maybe because so many Londoners left the UK to live the American dream. I’m sure I’ve read that linguistics say the New York accent does echo the London accent. Does anyone agree with this?? Yes I do use ‘China aka mate’. My London accent gets more pronounced when taking to my siblings. My South London born husband. I used to be able to tell the difference to those born South of the Thames. However I’ve not lived in London for many years since 1971. Married a serviceman, then retired to Kent in 1999
I agree about New Yorkers getting more Cockney. It probably depends which area of NY but I notice their accent has overall got flatter in the vowels i. e. more English-sounding. Some New Yorkers even say “bum” now and they don’t mean a down and out person 🗽
Our childhood language, spoken to baffle parents and teachers, we called ‘eggy-peggy’ and we took much pleasure in using it. Though, of course, it hadn’t occurred to us that the previous generation had known it very well in their youth, so usually understood every word we said… My father loved Cockney rhyming slang and spoke it regularly, so, despite not having been born anywhere near the Bow Bells, I understood every word of your opening sentence😀
I didn’t get the “See You Next Tuesday” allusion to the meaning of “Berk” until I looked it up on ‘Bing’ A.I., now I’m cracking up too, at both of them.😂
My dad was at sea so, while Scottish, he picked up the rhyming slang, used it all of my life and I never want to lose it. These channels and such are so valuable to me and I'm looking forward to teaching my niece. (I missed 'mutton' and then ruby. Oddly, I was thinking about Ruby Murray but couldn't think of anything to rhyme with her name!)
I was only about 20% correct with the Cockney phrases. Thank you for this. I found it particularly fascinating because I am planning to move to London as a further education instructor. Someone recently asked on one of the social media outlets which UK accents do you not like. Truthfully, I love them all. And it was so interesting to see your historical and current information on Cockney. I hope you are doing marvelously well, and again, thank you so much for this.
Cockney Rhyming Slang is still used in modern Australia, though it's not very common any more. My mother-in-law still used the phrase "telling porkies" for "lying", as in "pork pies = lies", just for one example. It's not extremely common these days, but it's still around. There's a particularly rude and fairly modern one to describe an American which is "seppo", the breakdown of which is: "Yankee = Yank = Septic Tank = Seppo". I've also heard that the name of the singer "James Blunt" is now rhyming slang for... a very old English word to describe a quite specific part of a woman's anatomy, let's put it that way. 😉😆
This Southern (American) girl learned a lot, thank you. The only thing I picked up on was cream crackered. I'm not sure how I knew that one. 😂 I love the story you told at the end! Oh my goodness. I think we give your teacher the benefit of the doubt !💜
hes going to sneak down the stairs avoid the wife shes deaf anyway , ring his mate to go to the pub then have a curry go home for a cup of tea and bed because he is exhausted
Paternal grandma was a true Cockney, maternal family true East enders, grew up with interspersed rhyming slang. Butchers and halfinch, are valid verbs. Trouble is, I now live in NZ and telling Kiwi colleagues that I am going to have a butchers in the stationary cupboard to see what I can half-inch.... meets with blank stares..and it took me years to realise! Talk about a light bulb moment.
LMAO at your husband's reaction to the word! I first learned it decades ago, so when you told the story of the teacher, my computer screen got a mouthful of tea!!! Other than that, I'm a (west coast of Canada) big fan of the show, New Tricks, and long before that, Minder, so I've learned some cockney through the years thanks to Denis Waterman among others. I understood about half of your opener and just sussed the rest.
You have reminded me of a long-forgotten memory of spending a lot of time with a big book produced by the Public Broadcasting System in the US, from a show called "Zoom." The cast was made up of regular kids, and in as much as possible was not scripted. It was meant mainly for tweens, and contained all sorts of interesting games, stories, songs, dances, and interviews with sort of kids on the street. The book contained a lot of fun ideas, and also lessons on how to speak Ubbi-Dubbi, a language only kids who watched the show (or had the book) could properly understand. So of course, I and my friends spoke it a lot. It consisted of plugging in an "ub" between every syllable. Anyway, interesting video and thanks for teaching me about rhyming slang! I knew of it, but never knew anything more than that.
I live the US. I really enjoyed this video . I am also interested in linguistics. I had no idea what you were saying . But , as you explained it , it made sense.The US has different types of slang in different areas .
I understood your initial passage perfectly :-). Although never having lived in London myself, my Father is from Leytonstone and all this is part of my family's culture. Moreover, he was in the Army, in which rhyming slang is, to my observation, universally understood, and is further picked up by soldiers' families wherever they're from. Most of the time the second element of each expression was dropped, and consequently I learned many of them without even knowing they were from rhyming slang, only finding out the original full expression some years later. There are probably still a few synonyms I use without knowing their rhyming origin. I've always known the origin of 'berk', though!
So, this is the Leeries’ speech in Mary Poppins Returns? I learned something new today. Also, were lamplighters called leeries? Or was it a reference to Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, The Lamplighter? Great video. Thank you.
As a young teen my friends and I adopted a form of language called "gibberish" which you spoke of.It was a way to feel a part of a group apart from others...especially adults!
Haha, "knackered" was the only one I guessed correctly. The rest was a mystery to me. Thanks so much for sharing this fascinating perspective on the ever-evolving nuances of human communication. 👏😄💖🔔
My Nan was born in 1905 in Bow. The family were evacuated to the Midlands when the Zeppelins were bombing the East End in 1914. They never went back to London. To her dying day she never lost her Cockney accent. With regards to Polari, as always it's bona to vada your dolly old eek. But don't let Lily law catch us talking.
As an American I find the Cockney rhyming both hysterical and mind boggling at the same time. I was able to work out some of the opening rhythms but some of them just went over my head. When I was a kid I thought Pig Latin was very sophisticated and used it for a while. 🗣️🎶🥁🤣
I’m American, so pretty much my only exposure to Cockney is from Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness mystery book series. Lovely books. The protagonist is a minor royal, and has a Cockney grandfather.
i had absolutely no idea what you were talking about with that sentence. i wondered if this is what people think about australian slang lmao great vid as always
Yes, knew most of them, also knew 'berk'. Knew about 'berk' years ago when I was a student in Manchester. It was in currency there, there were quite a few London students and Dennis Waterman in Minder used it on TV, I think.🎤🎙
This was so interesting!! Thanks very much, Dr Kat. I did manage to understand what you said, with the exception of "rubber". Also, I am guilty of calling a few people "burks" in my time, as well, so I am inclined to give your teacher the benefit of the doubt. (And I can totally understand Mr Dr-Kat's new fascination with it, lol.) Anyway, I hope you are still recovering well postnatally. Sending you and your family all the best. Xx
I only got knackered. It's interesting to know how speech patterns could be used to identify other members of a particular group. Effective too. As a Canadian, my first language is English, but I have no idea who or what Rosie Lee is so wouldn't be able to come up with a rhyme. Great video as always Dr Kat. Now I must run to Timmy's for a double double.
I currently live near the town of Ashington in Northumberland, where Pitmatic was mostly spoken. It is now dying out. When I first moved here it took me a while to understand what people were saying!
"My Fair Lady" is one of my favorite films. In it Professor Higgins claims he can place a man within two miles in England, which I thought was an impressive claim. But then he claimed he could place a man in London within two streets! Which I wasn't buying! But your video goes a long way to explaining why it could be true. Class distinctions, business jargon, tech jargon, street slang, verbal short hand, underworld secrecy etc... all give-a-ways of just where you may hail from! Is there anything the English language can't do?? LOL! Love your content!
Translation 1:38 : "Sneak down the stairstoavoid the wife which is easy becamcause she's a bit deaf. Call my mate on the phone so I don't have to go down the pub on my own. Maybe we'll go for a curry then go back for a cuppa before I'm too tired". Many years ago I was a copper in the Met and we were on "Obbo", (observing a house and it's occupant. The suspect left his house and walked in tbe direction of my colleagues. My radio report: "He's out of his drum and heading your way on his plates". Fully understood by all callsigns as that was how we spoke.
I’m American and as a child l think the Cockney spoken in Mary Poppins the movie was considered THE English accent ❤ l had too be told about different ways of speaking English which opened my eyes and made me want to go to England ❤ 😮
I have long been aware of rhyming slang from novels, which usually explain it but don't use it much. I really admire your ability to speak using it! I did get "trouble" from the context (ha!) and the final "knackered" (itself not a word in American English). This was fun.
I'm Canadian with a British mother who grew up in Surrey, but her parents were from East London. I also lived in London for nearly a decade as an adult. That was awhile ago now, so I'm a bit rusty. Here's my attempt at a translation: you were going to sneak down the apples (and pears = stairs) to avoid the trouble (and strife = wife), which will be easy as she's a bit mutton (I don't know this one), then get on the dog (and bone = phone) to me old china (plate = mate), so I don't have to go down the rubber (don't know) on my jacks (don't know this one either, but I'm going guess that this combo means go down the pub on my own - could be totally wrong here!). Maybe we'll go for a ruby (Murray = curry) and then head back for a cup of rosy (lee = tea) before I'm too cream crackered (knackered = tired). I guess I got about 2/3 there. Interested to see other translations and learn the ones I didn't know!
Two of those you didn't know are better known slightly differently from how they were given in the video. Deaf is Mutt and Jeff (mutt), not mutton. Alone/on your own is on your Jack, not Jacks.
Cockney has changed. I watched a video with a real old east ender born in the 19th century who was interviewed in the 70s and it was real sing song, today the london accent seems flatter and it's spreading over East Anglia, its quite rare to hear Suffolk accents these days. But I remember mt dad playing me round the Horne tapes and i still find Julian and Sandy hilarious!
Give us a butchers at your new Cockney addition? Loved this episode, use quite a few of these words still, and I live in Aus now and have since1969!!❤❤
You'd be such a fun college professor with your dry delivery. I'm sure you would have students stewing on your words just like you did with your teacher (but in a nicer way lol). So funny!
My understanding of the origin of calling East End Londoners ‘cockneys’ was an ironic reference to the mythical land of plenty and indulgence called Cockayne, or Cockaigne (spellings vary).. For this reason Edward Elgar called his tone poem/overture describing a day in the life of London ‘Cockaigne - In London Town’. Cockayne is also referenced in Carminative Burana in the setting of the Latin text Ego sum Abbas cuceniensis (I am the abbot of Cockayne), the song describing a lot of drinking
Back in the day, my friend group used a cryptolect called Ergu and some of us were quite fluent. Once we got to high school, we became obsessed with Yiddish and those poor librarians discovered one after another of the Yiddish/English dictionaries had sprouted legs and walked away.
The only word I didn't get was rubber for pub. I grew up in Essex, but my parents were from east London, albeit parts that would not have counted as London when they were born. Neither really spoke with a typicial cockney accent, but my Dad definitely used to talk about going up the apples and pears, for example.
Allegedly, the Cockney accent moved with the people from the area to places like Romford, while new people moved into the old Cockney areas and that accent changed as a result.. The older generations of my family were from Hackney/Haggerstone and Stratford and Dagenham areas, and they took their accents to Romford, so though I'm not familiar with Romford accents today I suspect this is plausible.
🤫🙊 A well researched, intelligent and perceptive mini-lecture delivered with style and humour. Loved it.❤ Thank you Doctor Kat p.s. my grandparents were born and lived in Whitechapel for many years and sounded like cockneys but I never heard them use any rhyming slang though I presume they understood it. I wonder if this their version of code-switching. Would enjoy a video about that fascinating topic.
Human language is so interesting! I admit the internet use of corn and including has felt really immature to me, so it’s good to know it’s just another evolution of language. I can put my pitchfork down 😂. My sister used to think twat meant twit but I had to set her straight after she’d used it in her office setting.
As an American, I find Cockney rhyming slang fascinating but utterly incomprehensible most of the time. I am proud to say I got the last sentence of your example ! I shared your school teacher anecdote with my husband. Any guesses what word he is now shouting gleefully at the ice hockey game he's watching??🙊🙊🙃
The Berkeley Hunt originally hunted all the country from the River Severn right through to the Earl of Berkeley's kennels at his London property, so the hunt servants in their eye-catching yellow livery would have been well-known in London.
I'm a London taxi driver and we have some words that abbreviate places and things a drivers taxi is a droshkey Yiddish for a battered old farm cart that's quite old more recently although closed now was the old underground rank at Euston station sewer rat hole but my favourite because some drivers wore new trainers and would get out of their cabs to chat was " up the stairs at Sports Direct" meaning a queue of customers
Got most of it but was flummoxed by "rubber". Incidentally, does anyone remember Ronnie Barker's Cockney Rhyming Slang Sermon? (it's on YT). Up here in N Staffs people do use rhyming slang, in particular "ruby" and "richard III", whether this is due to programmes on TV and radio I'm not sure!
I have an elderly friend who is cockney. He was born in a subway station during the Blitz, but definitely within the sound of the Bow Bells. His parents spoke with a distinct Cockney accent and used rhyming slang, so he did as well. He moved to the US in the early 1960s and learned to avoid using rhyming slang, because people couldn't understand what he was saying. However, he is now dealing with dementia, and his rhyming slang has returned with a vengeance. I have no idea of what he's saying half the time.
As an aside, I participated in a quarter peal attempt at St Mary-le-Bow back in 1977, so I've rung the Bow bells. However, I was born halfway around the world in Indiana.🔔
Did you get your quarter?
@@John-Smith-999 I'm afraid not. Hence the word "attempt." We were a bunch of American ringers and most of us had never rung anything on 12 bells, so we crashed out pretty quickly. But it was a wonderful experience ringing those bells.
Hope you can 20:29 document your friends story Library of Conngress Storycorp? I know what’s a commitment
But it’s a great story
Or audio record when he’s having a good day and put it out on Amazon.
I know you have other work to do😮
@@John-Smith-999😅
@@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944 interesting - I didn't realise it's 12 bell tower. Well done for trying
My favourite Cockney rhyming slang word is "plaster" for "bottom". It's short for "plaster of Paris", which rhymes with "Aris", which is short for "Aristotle', which rhymes with "bottle", which is short for "bottle and glass", which rhymes with "arse".
🤣
@@Sdragnastynot sure this is authentic Cockney words. Sorry I an born and bread Cockney. Sorry I don’t know orreconise the words use, sorry they ain’t Cockney🏴🇬🇧
That is convoluted, lol
Don’t forget Khyber Pass - I may have been threatened with a “kick up the Khyber” in my youth 😂
True about Aris or 'arris, never heard the plaster extension, though. I was going to refer to this when Dr. Kat said Direct rhyme, this is a variant, the Indirect rhyme
My mother - long time dead - used to delight in telling people she was a Cockney, even though she came from Northumbrian stock. Her parents had gone to London to visit family when my grandmother went into labour a bit earlier than expected. So, not only was my mother born within the sound of Bow Bells, but also in the pub owned by her relatives. And, to emulate this, my mother certainly enjoyed a “smalll snifter” until her death at nearly 90 years old.
Not me sitting here yelling "Cant" (in your accent) at the TV! 😂
😂😂😂
@ReadingthePast btw, its not just today, its every time! Its a bit like you and THUNDER BAY! 😂🤣
SAME!! Such a great video
When I was at school in London in the 50's and 60's, calling someone a 'burk' for doing something silly was very common. We all used it, but had no idea of what it was slang for.
I am Canadian, from Ontario. I watch the television show "Call the Midwife" and this video has helped me understand what some of the dialogue literally means! I am so happy to watch these videos. I love them!
I understood about half of your cockney slang (Thank you, Terry Pratchett.), but it was fascinating to learn the rest. As always, thanks for another enlightening and engrossing video!🤟
❤ I'm also a huge P'Terry Fan.
GNU Pterry
@pamtaylor989 GNU STP
That’s sir terrry pratchett gnu ❤❤
I love dialect. Im from Maine, USA, where we are noted for accent living now in the South, my wife is from Perth, Scotland and most of my nieces and nephews are Scousers...we have a wonderful language. This was great!
Yes my Father in Law was from Liverpool. He never lost his scouse accent even though being away from Liverpool for 75 years.
I am Australian and we use a lot of Cockney rhyming slang. Someone said accents, like ours happened because of the time the country was inhabited by the British. Americans have a different accent because of they were inhabited earlier. I know many people who try to copy the Australian accent often sound more Cockney to me than Australian. Here’s an example of Melbourne rhyming slang. “Wore his new bag of fruit down the rubbity, got Mozart and List and got the old heave ho from the trouble and strife. “
I'm in Perth & understand that perfectly!😂
@@kooltom4yeah nah yeah.
Perfect! I was just about to write something similar lol.
An absolutely fascinating look at how regional dialects and ways of speaking may have developed, using Cockney from the London East End, and how the entire language of a region can be changed over time.
down the stairs to avoid a deaf wife, get on the phone with my mate so i don't have to go to the pub on my own. Maybe a go for a curry afterwards if he is not too tired then home for a cup of tea
Thank you for an abfab discussion of Cockney. What linguistic agility is required to translate as an outsider. Congratulations to you and your hubby on the healthy delivery of your second son! How do you keep so many balls in the air with such grace, wit, scholarship, and good humor?Respect.
"I suppose everyone needs a hobby" I'm dead hahahaha
To be fair, that's the kind of juvenile energy that I vibe with and I can't wait to cryptically use it around my husband directed to various different things until he figures out what the heck it is I'm saying.
Love it! I'm a New Yorker who lived in London for two years. I'm proud to say I knew 3 of the words! I guess that makes me either an aspiring Mockney, or just a person who loves words.
Oh wow did this bring me back! Grammy was a Londoner, and yes could hear the Bow Bells. My favorite of her expressions was " Inky Pinky" = Stinky! And she frequently went up the Apples and pares= stairs. Born in 1900 arrived in New England in 1925 and she died in 1985 - miss her still! Thanks for bringing back a bit of my childhood!
I got knackered and that was it 🤣
I was born in south London, Clapham, but I'm happy to say I understood what you were saying!
Dr.Kat, there is an adorable video on TH-cam with Maggie Smith teaching Carol Burnett how to speak Cockney. I highly recommend it!☕️
Great video! I love how you connect the topic to larger social topics.
Great content as always. Thank you!!
Thank you, Dr.Kat! I had no idea what you were saying, at first. I'm an American. You explained it well. Hopefully, the teacher did not know what she was really saying, lol! ❤
As an authentic born and bred Cockney. Born in Guys Hospital, Southwark, within the sound of Bow Bells Church. I trace my Dad’s family living and owning business in Cheapside in 1720. Working as Carpenters, (family name Cartwright) or Weavers.
Great video, thank you.
Unfortunately the Cockney accent is disappearing in London. Becoming known as Estry, after the Thames Eastry. Indeed the popularity of a hip Hop singers has now become more Jamaican sounding, mockney).
I notice when Invisited New York earliervthis year I could sound echos of a London accent in their speach. Maybe because so many Londoners left the UK to live the American dream. I’m sure I’ve read that linguistics say the New York accent does echo the London accent. Does anyone agree with this??
Yes I do use ‘China aka mate’. My London accent gets more pronounced when taking to my siblings. My South London born husband. I used to be able to tell the difference to those born South of the Thames. However I’ve not lived in London for many years since 1971. Married a serviceman, then retired to Kent in 1999
Would you categorise this as part of Multicultural London English?
I agree about New Yorkers getting more Cockney. It probably depends which area of NY but I notice their accent has overall got flatter in the vowels i. e. more English-sounding.
Some New Yorkers even say “bum” now and they don’t mean a down and out person 🗽
10:40 From Australia, glad to hear a part of our linguistic history.
Got all the rhyming slang right but I do live in London!! Loved this video - so interesting!
Our childhood language, spoken to baffle parents and teachers, we called ‘eggy-peggy’ and we took much pleasure in using it. Though, of course, it hadn’t occurred to us that the previous generation had known it very well in their youth, so usually understood every word we said… My father loved Cockney rhyming slang and spoke it regularly, so, despite not having been born anywhere near the Bow Bells, I understood every word of your opening sentence😀
I didn’t get the “See You Next Tuesday” allusion to the meaning of “Berk” until I looked it up on ‘Bing’ A.I., now I’m cracking up too, at both of them.😂
I'll be up the apples & pears in my craft room. 😃
An excellent choice treacle ☺️
As an Australian, Cockney rhyming slang has always been a part of my vernacular. The most common one I use is, “porky pies” or “porkies”.
Aussie here too, I'll mention porkies, might take a butcher's (butcher's hook, look) down the frog (frog and toad, road)
Loved this. My father was from Bermondsey, I live in Cadiz Spain my daughter used to say with Spanish accent: Grrandad can you do my barnet? 😂😂😂
This was great 😂 I don't know the origin of the phrase 'Gonk on the wonk' but ever since you used it, has had residence in my head.
My dad was at sea so, while Scottish, he picked up the rhyming slang, used it all of my life and I never want to lose it. These channels and such are so valuable to me and I'm looking forward to teaching my niece. (I missed 'mutton' and then ruby. Oddly, I was thinking about Ruby Murray but couldn't think of anything to rhyme with her name!)
I was only about 20% correct with the Cockney phrases.
Thank you for this. I found it particularly fascinating because I am planning to move to London as a further education instructor.
Someone recently asked on one of the social media outlets which UK accents do you not like. Truthfully, I love them all. And it was so interesting to see your historical and current information on Cockney.
I hope you are doing marvelously well, and again, thank you so much for this.
Cockney Rhyming Slang is still used in modern Australia, though it's not very common any more. My mother-in-law still used the phrase "telling porkies" for "lying", as in "pork pies = lies", just for one example. It's not extremely common these days, but it's still around. There's a particularly rude and fairly modern one to describe an American which is "seppo", the breakdown of which is: "Yankee = Yank = Septic Tank = Seppo". I've also heard that the name of the singer "James Blunt" is now rhyming slang for... a very old English word to describe a quite specific part of a woman's anatomy, let's put it that way. 😉😆
This Southern (American) girl learned a lot, thank you. The only thing I picked up on was cream crackered. I'm not sure how I knew that one. 😂 I love the story you told at the end! Oh my goodness. I think we give your teacher the benefit of the doubt !💜
The way it’s almost like riddles reminds me so much of the Old Norse Kenning, those are mind games too!
Great video, as always!
hes going to sneak down the stairs avoid the wife shes deaf anyway , ring his mate to go to the pub then have a curry go home for a cup of tea and bed because he is exhausted
Paternal grandma was a true Cockney, maternal family true East enders, grew up with interspersed rhyming slang. Butchers and halfinch, are valid verbs. Trouble is, I now live in NZ and telling Kiwi colleagues that I am going to have a butchers in the stationary cupboard to see what I can half-inch.... meets with blank stares..and it took me years to realise! Talk about a light bulb moment.
LMAO at your husband's reaction to the word! I first learned it decades ago, so when you told the story of the teacher, my computer screen got a mouthful of tea!!!
Other than that, I'm a (west coast of Canada) big fan of the show, New Tricks, and long before that, Minder, so I've learned some cockney through the years thanks to Denis Waterman among others. I understood about half of your opener and just sussed the rest.
Don't forget to like the video y'all
You have reminded me of a long-forgotten memory of spending a lot of time with a big book produced by the Public Broadcasting System in the US, from a show called "Zoom." The cast was made up of regular kids, and in as much as possible was not scripted. It was meant mainly for tweens, and contained all sorts of interesting games, stories, songs, dances, and interviews with sort of kids on the street. The book contained a lot of fun ideas, and also lessons on how to speak Ubbi-Dubbi, a language only kids who watched the show (or had the book) could properly understand. So of course, I and my friends spoke it a lot. It consisted of plugging in an "ub" between every syllable.
Anyway, interesting video and thanks for teaching me about rhyming slang! I knew of it, but never knew anything more than that.
I live the US. I really enjoyed this video . I am also interested in linguistics. I had no idea what you were saying . But , as you explained it , it made sense.The US has different types of slang in different areas .
I understood your initial passage perfectly :-). Although never having lived in London myself, my Father is from Leytonstone and all this is part of my family's culture. Moreover, he was in the Army, in which rhyming slang is, to my observation, universally understood, and is further picked up by soldiers' families wherever they're from.
Most of the time the second element of each expression was dropped, and consequently I learned many of them without even knowing they were from rhyming slang, only finding out the original full expression some years later. There are probably still a few synonyms I use without knowing their rhyming origin.
I've always known the origin of 'berk', though!
So, this is the Leeries’ speech in Mary Poppins Returns? I learned something new today. Also, were lamplighters called leeries? Or was it a reference to Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, The Lamplighter? Great video. Thank you.
As a young teen my friends and I adopted a form of language called "gibberish" which you spoke of.It was a way to feel a part of a group apart from others...especially adults!
This was one of my favorite videos you have ever done. I listen to it three times.
Haha, "knackered" was the only one I guessed correctly. The rest was a mystery to me. Thanks so much for sharing this fascinating perspective on the ever-evolving nuances of human communication. 👏😄💖🔔
Without you I never would have known Cockney rhyming slang existed. Thanks Doctor Kat!
My maternal grandparents are from Bethnal Green and Stepney Green. So this will be right up my street ❤
I understood every word of your first sentence, love it! A dying breed.
My Nan was born in 1905 in Bow. The family were evacuated to the Midlands when the Zeppelins were bombing the East End in 1914. They never went back to London. To her dying day she never lost her Cockney accent. With regards to Polari, as always it's bona to vada your dolly old eek. But don't let Lily law catch us talking.
I hope that I am not missing videos again, but congratulations on your new little boy, Dr. Kat,!
As an American I find the Cockney rhyming both hysterical and mind boggling at the same time. I was able to work out some of the opening rhythms but some of them just went over my head. When I was a kid I thought Pig Latin was very sophisticated and used it for a while. 🗣️🎶🥁🤣
I’m American, so pretty much my only exposure to Cockney is from Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness mystery book series. Lovely books. The protagonist is a minor royal, and has a Cockney grandfather.
i had absolutely no idea what you were talking about with that sentence. i wondered if this is what people think about australian slang lmao
great vid as always
I knew about three terms . What a fascinating subject.
Yes, knew most of them, also knew 'berk'. Knew about 'berk' years ago when I was a student in Manchester. It was in currency there, there were quite a few London students and Dennis Waterman in Minder used it on TV, I think.🎤🎙
🤣😂 Too funny! As a Canadian, I had no idea what that meant. But we do have a few oddities of our own.
This was so interesting!! Thanks very much, Dr Kat. I did manage to understand what you said, with the exception of "rubber". Also, I am guilty of calling a few people "burks" in my time, as well, so I am inclined to give your teacher the benefit of the doubt. (And I can totally understand Mr Dr-Kat's new fascination with it, lol.) Anyway, I hope you are still recovering well postnatally. Sending you and your family all the best. Xx
Great video. ❤
I had to watch it twice to get it all. Enjoyed this very much
I only got knackered. It's interesting to know how speech patterns could be used to identify other members of a particular group. Effective too. As a Canadian, my first language is English, but I have no idea who or what Rosie Lee is so wouldn't be able to come up with a rhyme. Great video as always Dr Kat. Now I must run to Timmy's for a double double.
I currently live near the town of Ashington in Northumberland, where Pitmatic was mostly spoken. It is now dying out. When I first moved here it took me a while to understand what people were saying!
Thanks, Kat, very interesting topic today!
"My Fair Lady" is one of my favorite films. In it Professor Higgins claims he can place a man within two miles in England, which I thought was an impressive claim. But then he claimed he could place a man in London within two streets! Which I wasn't buying! But your video goes a long way to explaining why it could be true. Class distinctions, business jargon, tech jargon, street slang, verbal short hand, underworld secrecy etc... all give-a-ways of just where you may hail from! Is there anything the English language can't do?? LOL! Love your content!
Translation 1:38 : "Sneak down the stairstoavoid the wife which is easy becamcause she's a bit deaf. Call my mate on the phone so I don't have to go down the pub on my own. Maybe we'll go for a curry then go back for a cuppa before I'm too tired".
Many years ago I was a copper in the Met and we were on "Obbo", (observing a house and it's occupant. The suspect left his house and walked in tbe direction of my colleagues. My radio report: "He's out of his drum and heading your way on his plates". Fully understood by all callsigns as that was how we spoke.
Love your content ❤❤❤❤❤
Fascinating! Thank you!
I’d love to see you do something similar on the Black Country dialect!
I’m American and as a child l think the Cockney spoken in Mary Poppins the movie was considered THE English accent ❤ l had too be told about different ways of speaking English which opened my eyes and made me want to go to England ❤ 😮
Fun! So much history and culture in laguage.
I have long been aware of rhyming slang from novels, which usually explain it but don't use it much. I really admire your ability to speak using it! I did get "trouble" from the context (ha!) and the final "knackered" (itself not a word in American English). This was fun.
🗣️ thanks for this fun exploration! As an American I 💯 failed the cockney paragraph 😂😂😂
I'm Canadian with a British mother who grew up in Surrey, but her parents were from East London. I also lived in London for nearly a decade as an adult. That was awhile ago now, so I'm a bit rusty. Here's my attempt at a translation: you were going to sneak down the apples (and pears = stairs) to avoid the trouble (and strife = wife), which will be easy as she's a bit mutton (I don't know this one), then get on the dog (and bone = phone) to me old china (plate = mate), so I don't have to go down the rubber (don't know) on my jacks (don't know this one either, but I'm going guess that this combo means go down the pub on my own - could be totally wrong here!). Maybe we'll go for a ruby (Murray = curry) and then head back for a cup of rosy (lee = tea) before I'm too cream crackered (knackered = tired). I guess I got about 2/3 there. Interested to see other translations and learn the ones I didn't know!
“Rub a dub” pub!
Two of those you didn't know are better known slightly differently from how they were given in the video. Deaf is Mutt and Jeff (mutt), not mutton. Alone/on your own is on your Jack, not Jacks.
Cockney has changed. I watched a video with a real old east ender born in the 19th century who was interviewed in the 70s and it was real sing song, today the london accent seems flatter and it's spreading over East Anglia, its quite rare to hear Suffolk accents these days. But I remember mt dad playing me round the Horne tapes and i still find Julian and Sandy hilarious!
Give us a butchers at your new Cockney addition? Loved this episode, use quite a few of these words still, and I live in Aus now and have since1969!!❤❤
Thanks!
You'd be such a fun college professor with your dry delivery. I'm sure you would have students stewing on your words just like you did with your teacher (but in a nicer way lol). So funny!
My understanding of the origin of calling East End Londoners ‘cockneys’ was an ironic reference to the mythical land of plenty and indulgence called Cockayne, or Cockaigne (spellings vary).. For this reason Edward Elgar called his tone poem/overture describing a day in the life of London ‘Cockaigne - In London Town’. Cockayne is also referenced in Carminative Burana in the setting of the Latin text Ego sum Abbas cuceniensis (I am the abbot of Cockayne), the song describing a lot of drinking
Back in the day, my friend group used a cryptolect called Ergu and some of us were quite fluent. Once we got to high school, we became obsessed with Yiddish and those poor librarians discovered one after another of the Yiddish/English dictionaries had sprouted legs and walked away.
The only word I didn't get was rubber for pub.
I grew up in Essex, but my parents were from east London, albeit parts that would not have counted as London when they were born.
Neither really spoke with a typicial cockney accent, but my Dad definitely used to talk about going up the apples and pears, for example.
Allegedly, the Cockney accent moved with the people from the area to places like Romford, while new people moved into the old Cockney areas and that accent changed as a result.. The older generations of my family were from Hackney/Haggerstone and Stratford and Dagenham areas, and they took their accents to Romford, so though I'm not familiar with Romford accents today I suspect this is plausible.
I like Terry Pratchett's Dimwell "rhyming slang"... 🤣
🤫🙊 A well researched, intelligent and perceptive mini-lecture delivered with style and humour. Loved it.❤ Thank you Doctor Kat p.s. my grandparents were born and lived in Whitechapel for many years and sounded like cockneys but I never heard them use any rhyming slang though I presume they understood it. I wonder if this their version of code-switching. Would enjoy a video about that fascinating topic.
Human language is so interesting! I admit the internet use of corn and including has felt really immature to me, so it’s good to know it’s just another evolution of language. I can put my pitchfork down 😂. My sister used to think twat meant twit but I had to set her straight after she’d used it in her office setting.
As an American, I find Cockney rhyming slang fascinating but utterly incomprehensible most of the time. I am proud to say I got the last sentence of your example ! I shared your school teacher anecdote with my husband. Any guesses what word he is now shouting gleefully at the ice hockey game he's watching??🙊🙊🙃
Great video
We have a fun one is Australia 🇦🇺
I’ll have a dogs eye with dead horse 🐴
Very interesting linguistic study
I guessed at a bit of it. I figured that trouble was wife largely from context, and figured rosy was tea and crackered was tired.
Darmok and Jalod at Tanagra.
😂😂🎉
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This explains why, when I try to speak with an Australian accent it comes out Cockney. 😁 🔔
The Berkeley Hunt originally hunted all the country from the River Severn right through to the Earl of Berkeley's kennels at his London property, so the hunt servants in their eye-catching yellow livery would have been well-known in London.
Hi I’ve been lisening with interest to this. I got most of the Cockney (as opposed to Mockney) translation right an all 😎
Love your comment about your husband 😂
I got all of them, smug face. But my mum was from West London and made a point of using it (only the clean ones, though)
I love this one. Can you do one on thieves can’t
I'm a London taxi driver and we have some words that abbreviate places and things a drivers taxi is a droshkey Yiddish for a battered old farm cart that's quite old more recently although closed now was the old underground rank at Euston station sewer rat hole but my favourite because some drivers wore new trainers and would get out of their cabs to chat was " up the stairs at Sports Direct" meaning a queue of customers
Absolutely cackling about the word ‘berk’ 😹😹😹😹😹
Love this!!! 🗣️⚪️🧥🕺🏼
Got most of it but was flummoxed by "rubber". Incidentally, does anyone remember Ronnie Barker's Cockney Rhyming Slang Sermon? (it's on YT). Up here in N Staffs people do use rhyming slang, in particular "ruby" and "richard III", whether this is due to programmes on TV and radio I'm not sure!