Cockney Rhyming Slang

This video is all about Cockney Rhyming Slang, a traditional form a English slang that arose in the East End of London, England and is still in use today.
Are you learning a language? One great resource to check out is Innovative Languages podcast programs: langfocus.com/innovative-lang....
Special thanks to Sian Dienn for audio recordings and feedback on the samples used in the video.
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Music
Intro: “The Last Day” by Silent Partner.
Main: “The Jazz Piano” by Bensound.com
Outro: “Take That Back” by Silent Partner.

[@borealssb1384]

An emerging one is "He's got the Miley", Miley being Miley Cyrus, which rhymes with coronavirus.

[@bacondoesthings123]

MOCKNEY ALERT

[@SakilAhmed-dj3ov]

Gotta Bubble.😑😑

[@yayak6799]

That’s hilarious

[@silviopozza8413]

@@bacondoesthings123 BACON, COZZERS

[@davidguymon1673]

And I'm stealing this shit right now. I will also be using this around Miley Cyrus to to greatly offend. 🤣🤣🤣

[@basharkano9658]

This is the wierdest linguistic phenomenon I've ever seen

[@deltoroperdedor3166]

.

[@VHAZUL]

In spanish there is something similar among some mexican people... And it sounds horrendous....

[@AuthenticDarren]

Well you'd better Adam and Eve it. ;)

[@v00017]

Look into French Verlan, it's also pretty weird :)

[@pierreabbat6157]

Je voudrais voir un dico verlan-louchébem!

[@ricardoguanipa8275]

so this is why reading " A Clockwork orange" was so hard

[@justyo96]

A Clockwork Orange is even harder -- it uses a completely made-up slang invented by Anthony Burgess called "Nadsat". This is a mix of rhyming slang and Slavic/Russian slang lol.

[@lauraenright3667]

@@justyo96 although the author does an excellent job of introducing new words and using them in such a way that’s not too difficult to pick up

[@ManteIIo]

@@justyo96 Yes, Russians also have made-up language that goes way back from middle ages and was created absolutely due to same reasons by traveling merchants and criminals as Cockney Rhyming - it's called Fenya and still very widely used, especially in prisons.

[@Postdotfuzz]

@@justyo96 It always blew my mind how difficult they main characters were to understand, at first, but by the end of the book, I could understand them perfectly.

[@GreytOutdoorsMedic]

One of my grandfathers favourites “I’m going down the rubber for a pig.” Rubber dub, pub. Pigs ear, beer.

[@OmarDelawar]

Just exchange the first letter of the rhyming words for an advanced rhyming slang: "I'm going down the pubber for a rig."

[@berniefynn6623]

RUBBA DUB,PUB,

[@michellebarnes7640]

My kids and I listened to this in the car. They loved it, and now I can't understand anything my 9 year old is saying. 😅

[@Langfocus]

I bet they’ll be using rhyming slang for the rest of the week! lol

[@egilsandnes9637]

That's fluffy!

[@junkybabes]

Are your dustbin lids using it as code? so you don't know what they are up to?

[@psychoaiko666]

@@Langfocus off topic fun fact: the word "lol" is actually a Dutch word for fun. Back in the days of SMS and MSN (when everyone's handle/nick consisted of a bunch of punction marks 'n stuff, like: -_,../||÷{×}÷||\.., _- leaving you wondering at every conversation with who the hell you're actually communicating with. And the widespread usage of numerals in words, like: sk8, w8, or 4eva.), when messages had be of a certain amount of characters or less, if something was meant to be, or perceived as funny the Dutch would type in "lol". This carried over to Internet fora and even actual speech. At some point "lol" went international through foreigners accidentally stumbling into Dutch online game fora and attempting to converse with the Dutch using archaic online translators. So yeah, it doesn't mean "laughing out loud" (that's just someone's attempt to give meaning to a word that was foreign to them), it's not an abbreviation, it's not pronounced L. O. L., it's lol. Knowledge 😜

[@IdliAmin_TheLastKingofSambar]

psychoaiko666 I know I’m replying to a months-old comment, but I felt compelled to correct the record here because this claim is simply not true. The reality is that the online term LOL is, in fact, an English-language acronym for “laughing out loud”. It coincidentally resembles the similarly-themed Dutch word “lol” - a false cognate to the acronym “LOL,” if you will - and thus, at least some Dutch speakers chose to use “lol” in their online communications. On the other hand, speakers of other languages often came up with analogue terms for LOL in their respective native tongues (e.g. Spanish “jajajà”). The use of LOL online dates at least as far back as the 1980s, and meant “laughing out loud,” having been used on Usenet groups, BBS (bulletin board service) message boards, and on early online services such as Quantum Link (renamed America Online, or AOL for short, in 1989), long before MSN was a gleam in Bill Gates’ eye (or a reflection off of his eyeglasses, as it were). In fact, people would constantly ask for clarification whenever someone typed “LOL” because it was still so unfamiliar even to those early proto-Internet users. Sorry in advance for this (unintentionally) pedantic “umm, actually” reply!

[@coconutflour9868]

Slangfocus

[@jeffirwin7862]

Welcome to slangfocus and my name is Saul.

[@loganford6483]

You saw the opportunity and you took it lol

[@hanc724]

^ hey you guys rhymed! Where’d you find the time

[@stephenwaldron4213]

@@hanc724 Do you mean, where'd you find the lemon, gov'ner?

[@martintuma9974]

@@jeffirwin7862 :-)))

[@mozcab]

I consider myself a true 'mockney', and this is probably one of the best explanations of cockney rhyming slang I've seen. The enunciation is excellent too, especially coming from a north american (Don't mean to sound patronising!). One of my favourite slangs is 'lady', meaning a five pound note - a Lady Godiva is a fiver. The rudest one I know is 'James', or James Blunt. Work it out what it means for yourself!

[@craigpimlott204]

That one is new .the old one is ,A grumble ..a grumble and grunt .l

[@paulrom446]

Related to Johnson? Rizzle fer schizzle nizzle? Grab a Pilla! If you're fer Rilla! Then you'll prefer Vanilla! Find it in the Chilla! For Rilla!

[@RonFer1945]

I have always been interested in languages and dialects and enjoy all your videos but particularly enjoyed this one. My late parents were from working-class East London and at family gatherings during my early years (I am now 72) I used to enjoy hearing Cockney slang. I remember my father speaking to my uncle saying, 'Let's go for a ball o' chalk dahn the frog and toad to the rub-a-dub' = Let's go for a walk down the road to the pub. Also, asking if he can ' 'ave a butchers (butcher's hook) at the linen' (linen draper) , meaning, 'Can I have a look at the (news)paper'? As you rightly say in the video, rhyming slang has now spread across the UK. I now live near Portsmouth, on the English south coast, and I hear the football (soccer) score of 2 - 2 being called a 'Desmond', short for Desmond Tutu, the former archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa. Mentioning Portsmouth, I am struck by its local accent, which is quite distinct and localised and with some unique vocabulary. Maybe a future project? One other thing, the lady's voice in the video speaking the cockney sounded authentic. One thing I did notice, though, was her pronouncing the 'H' in Hansel and Gretel. An 'h' is always silent in Cockney but may be pronounced in artificial situations which cause the speaker to try and sound a bit more 'posh'.

[@insertname11]

I love this solar. solar panel panel channel

[@tFighterPilot]

guessed it without looking

[@hellothere4858]

That took me a second lol

[@solovief]

ch-ch-channel

[@clandestino6438]

loooool my brain wen "tf rhymes with system"

[@merrymerryjerry6736]

green mold mold old old fort fort short Short and far far Guitar Guitar Tuner Tuner Lunar Lunar and solar solar roller roller skates skates plates Green mold = plates

[@davedark27]

After studying English for most of my life I was really confident about being quite proficient, but this cockney slang just blew my mind big time!

[@veselinjokanovic3032]

You're not the only one, my friend. It is an interesting concept to explore for fluent speakers. :)

[@JY-um4su]

I don't think it should be called English.Its just a dialect.U wouldn't be able to know every dialect of a language as a native.

[@aiocafea]

5yr late but i want to say i love that there's still so much to learn about english and all of it's facets most of my English (as a Second Language) teachers and peers are often still shocked regarding all of the english that sounds unrecognisable to them despite the long hours spent studying the language of course the real explanation is the diminishing returns from studying formal english forever when it is not a coding language but a living spoekn language what doesn't help is the attitude we have towards learners of 'hey this is a local dialect, do not worry if you don't understand' which is carried up to later levels of learning english, sometimes morphing into the attitude of 'don't worry, it's a local dialect, *they* are the ones who aren't speaking english correctly'

[@christodavison]

Not original but my favourite(s) is (are): "I've just been for a long run and now my bacon and eggs are eggs and bacon"

[@christodavison]

@Victor Smith Legs, Aching ;)

[@Pantano63]

We have a similar slang phenomenon in Mexico although not as complex. They call it "caliche" or "caló" but not every word or term is like what I will describe. Instead of finding words that rhyme in the last syllable (and all that) like in Cockney some people find words that sort of sound similar in the first syllable and substitute them for comedic effect or euphemism. Examples: "naranjas" (oranges) slang for "no", "Simón" (Spanish form of Simon) slang for "sí" (yes), "Nostradamus" for "nosotros" (we/us), "suéter" (sweater) slang for "suegra" (mother-in-law), "lechuga" (lettuce) euphemism for "leche" (milk) which is in itself slang for "semen". There are also a few literary references like "don gargantúa" (from Gargantua and Pantagruel, the famous French novel) where "gargantúa" is slang for "garganta" (throat), in other words "Mr Throat": a judge. The slang originated from the lower classes, marginals, and criminals so of course a judge (someone who decides if people are sent to jail or not, or figuratively "slices throats") is perceived in a negative fashion or an "abogado" (lawyer) is an "abogángster" for their supposedly corrupt nature and gangster-like methods or a police officer is a "judas" (a traitor like Judas, no wordplay here) or an "agente" (agent) is an "ajedrez" (chess) for their strategic behaviour and because dealing with them is like playing chess. Lots of words and terms for everything but especially those related to sex, prostitution, genitalia, guns, police, murder, death, friends, alcohol, etc.

[@D3ND]

I gave this video a car. Car and bike. Bike rhymes with like... Damn I'm bad...

[@Amghannam]

I gave one one. one and two two rhymes with too I've even worse..

[@pasteljelly2234]

I gave this a rain Rain and Snow Snow rhymes with also Mine is worst

[@D3ND]

Is this a battle for the fire? Fire burst Burst rhymes with worst Let's see where this going?

[@pasteljelly2234]

No, I egg! Egg Egg and Ham Ham rhymes with am I win

[@D3ND]

No you're rope Knot and rope Knot rhymes with not Laziest rhyme xD

[@pablovirus]

"Another one" lmao

[@humanbeing6714]

Here's your burger, sir !

[@Langfocus]

Hi everyone. Please don't post topic requests. Requests aren't feasible for a channel like this with videos that take so much time and effort to make. I try to filter out requests, so you don't see most of them. If I left them unfiltered, they would flood the entire comment section. I get thousands of them every month, with a big spike whenever I upload a new video. So, it may seem like yours is the only one, but there are LOTS. I'm afraid I just can't be responsive to requests. But I hope you enjoy this video and all my others. Thanks!

[@normaninconnu3633]

Langfocus ow wite me ol china.

[@mcaeln7268]

Hi hot dogs. Please don’t beef topic requests. Requests aren’t feasible for a panel like this with videos that take so much slang and effort to make. I try to filter out friends, so you don’t lock most of them. If I left them unfiltered, they would bath the entire comment rig. So it may laser like yours is the only one, but there are lots. I’m afraid I can’t be responsive to mighty’s. But I climb that you enjoy this video and all my others. Statuses!

[@fishjohn014]

Dude, anyone could have made this video in half a day

[@angiefeingold8174]

Langfocus - it is kind of you to explain!

[@georgemckenna7570]

Don't worry, we won't send you any more Georges... (George Bests = Requests)

[@nigelogilvie9450]

My Father (b.1917) used many of these. Few people had a massively wide rhyming vocabulary, so there tended to be a limited vocab that was always rendered in rhyme. Use your loaf (loaf of bread - head); Up the Apples at bedtime. Good vid, thanks.

[@matthagen67]

"I went inside the cat..." DAYUM. That's some dark territory we're walking on here.

[@namingisdifficult408]

Demonetized

[@flipflopthong2]

cat and dog = bog = toilet?

[@thewomble1509]

Sure is dagnab it, con sarnit, yeeha,!

[@lucanavarrete7234]

Shane Dawson be like

[@angrytedtalks]

"House" is pronounced "aaass" in a cockney accent. Stick with the cat.

[@ahorrell]

My favourite is from Australia. 'Seppoes', meaning Americans. Seppoes is the abbreviated form of Septic, which from Septic Tank, which means Yank.

[@jackhibbard5988]

And "dead horse" for tomato sauce - which rhymes for Australians.

[@kacperzdzieborski2250]

Or thongs although thats not a cockney rhym. Lolz

[@digitalbrentable]

Bloody hell, I'm Kerried. [Kerry Packer-ed > knackered].

[@AlexWindsor]

Cream crackered is the one I knew

[@jimsmith2902]

Jack Hibberd er, "horse/sauce" rhymes for Brits as well - doesn't it rhyme for all English speakers? And "septic tank" for "Yank" is British rhyming slang too, although we don't say "Seppoes", that's typically Australian.

[@emm_arr]

"Berk" is another one. A very sweary word rhymes with "Berkshire Hunt".

[@TheJanooby]

cockney is by far the most intriguing of languages. you gotta love the creativity involved with it

[@Katharsis540]

And this is why I love this channel.

[@jorge35145]

You need to be recognized around the world, your videos are really good!!!

[@Langfocus]

Thank you!

[@boraxkid1097]

You're amazing at relaying complicated ideas, without talking over our heads or dumbing it down too much. Thanks for everything, Paul.

[@Livinglife595]

I was brought up in London. My dad and all his family were true cockneys born within the sound of bow bells. I had that accent but it was in the mid sixties and seventies and was frowned upon. Like we were stupid. So for jobs sake I worked on it to sound better. But I can go back to it any time. My family used the slang all the time

[@Nathriel]

I was first exposed to the Cockney accent by watching reruns of the Britcom "Are You Being Served?" The character Miss Brahms spoke in that way, and I've always considered it to be quite endearing. After looking up her Wikipedia article, I noticed the actress Wendy Richard was actually born in Middlesbrough, oddly enough.

[@Eo_Tunun]

I would probably get a kick in the royal alberts for even trying…

[@davidwuhrer6704]

That's boll███ Uh… I mean… (How do you paraphrase that?) You know what I mean! It's a load of cobblers is what I'm saying.

[@contactlight8079]

@@rubeusignis1293 the original was 'Cobbler's' ...Cobbler's Awls...Balls. Thats why we call bullshit 'cobblers' in other words, bollocks

[@capcompass9298]

Cobblers.

[@fbnflaviusbroadcastingnetw6786]

Eo Tunun speaking of Albert: I love a fill of prince in me puffer. Prince Albert French Vanilla in a tobacco pipe is the best. Hey, I did it! 😃

[@bl00dhoney]

@@kingrobert1st it's Berk for Berkeley Hunt.

[@psammiad]

As a Londoner I'm so glad you covered this. Rhyming slangs have always been a kind of game though they derived from "thieves' cant", a secret language of the underclass - they're initially guessed or become obvious after a hint. Many of the classic ones have become entirely engrained in English lexicon - eg calling someone a berk (from Berkshire hunt...), or doubles as you mentioned, aris, arse, bottle & glass. It's easy to dismiss neologisms as "mockney" - but none of these slang terms predate the 19th century, they were all invented pretty recently. Going for a coupla Britneys is as valid as going up the apples.

[@jshepard152]

Britneys. 😂

[@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156]

Such a beautifully creative feature. I absolutely adore this.

[@hydra4251]

I'm from Hertfordshire (which borders North London) and Cockney slag is used quite a bit here since the end of WW2, working class Londoners moved here. Cockney is now dying in the east end with it being a lot of immigrants moving there, and now Cockneys are moving to border counties (like Essex)

[@howabunga]

Paul! you missed the most common one. I would say that as a Brit "let's take a butchers" is the most used piece of rhyming slang across the UK. In case you don't know butchers hook rhymes with look and in this case hook is always omitted.

[@NotQuiteFirst]

The most commonly used ones have their roots in rhyming slang forgotten and just become part of the language. Like "cobblers!", which anyone in England would understand to have a meaning like "bullshit!", but few realise it comes from "cobblers awls = balls (bollocks)"

[@Nilguiri]

butcher's

[@tacticallala8788]

Does your police and legal system speak like this also? Are there translators for this?

[@Nilguiri]

Lala, it's informal and all but the poshest Brits understand most of it. I don't think translators would be necessary. Police working in areas where it is spoken would understand it. In a court, a person would be asked to speak "normal", non-slang English. But some of it is in normal, daily use, though, and is understood by everybody.

[@fizr8618]

Nilguiri generally, but some of it is completely ingrained in the language. I’ve heard phrases like cobblers and “rabbiting on” used in professional, formal environments.

[@dannyrm9696]

OMG this was the most interesting thing I have seen in a while. I did know about cockney because I have read "A Clockwork Orange" and cockney helped to shape that work. Nonetheless I was unaware of how interesting, amazing and even surprising the cockney can be. As always, thank you, do not ever stop surprising us. We love you.

[@namingisdifficult408]

Alex DeLarge interesting

[@Imagino1234]

The book was also influenced by Slavic languages too. It's amazing how the author made use of his linguistics background to make an entirely new dialect of English for that book.

[@dannyrm9696]

supernova808 I am aware of it, I am just saying that the author got influenced by the cockney dialect and that is why he came up with the idea of a Russian-English dialect.

[@NuisanceMan]

Good comment, Grandpa. = Grandpa and granny = Danny

[@moongazer13]

Love these videos! Thank you!

[@charlesbeaudelair8331]

Love your channel!

[@OG_Jin_Bling]

Ahhhhh hahahahaha. This guy read my mind. As soon as I saw the title I said, "Watch KZbin demonetize this becase he said Cockney."

[@YoussefAzaroual]

Langfocus: Hey Artificial "Intelligence" Bots, please don't demona... A"i"B: *DEMONETIZED!!!*

[@namingisdifficult408]

The Grey Matter المادة الرمادية yep

[@hhalharbal1326]

stfu

[@soullessvacuum]

This is an absolute gem of a video on the subject.

[@ftumschk]

Another great vid. You mention the double-barrel process that turns "arse" into "aris", but the barrel can have yet another layer, namely "April". It goes like this: April = April in Paris -> aris = Aristotle -> bottle = bottle and glass -> arse. Fascinating how this stuff evolves!

[@IveJustHadAPiss]

The use of 'us' as 'me' isn't endemic to a Cockney dialect. It's used in all sorts of local UK dialects, from Pompey to Scouse.

[@Gh0stClown]

Can confirm, am from the North East where 'us' is far more common than 'me' in casual speech.

[@GiandomenicoDeMola]

Mic Turition What's Pompey?? I mean, I'm Italian, I know Pompeii, but I didn't know that it is also a dialect of English. What part of Great Britain is it from?

[@IveJustHadAPiss]

Portsmouth. Known as 'Pompey' to the locals. It has it's own unique dialect, but it's not well-documented, and a lot of terms have fallen out of usage since the decline of the ship-building industry. Origin of the name is disputed: "The city's nickname Pompey is thought to have derived from the log entry of Portsmouth Point, contracted to "Po'm.P." (Po'rtsmouth P.oint) as ships entered the harbour. Navigational charts use the contraction.[60] However, a historian argues that the name Pompey may have been brought back from a group of Portsmouth-based sailors who visited Pompey's Pillar in Alexandria, Egypt, in around 1781.[61] Another theory is that it is named after the harbour's guardship, Pompee, a 74-gun French battleship captured in 1793."

[@IveJustHadAPiss]

The football club are also known as 'Pompey' and are famous for their 'Pompey Chimes' chant.

[@nattheweirdo]

Definitely used often in my West Country dialect

[@HumeHwy]

Hello. I’m a Sydneysider, born in the 1970s. Sydney was founded by a ragtag collection of British convicts, soldiers and free settlers from 1788 onward. Basically, these colonists were shipwrecked Londoners. You only have to look at a map of Sydney - Hyde Park, Charing Cross, Mortlake, Regents Park, Kingsway, Kings Cross, Camden, Windsor, Richmond, Woolwich, Greenwich, Kensington, Sydenham, Stanmore, Enfield, Lewisham, Petersham，

[@roasty247]

I'm originally from East London, so a lot of my family use cockney rhyming slang without even realising it. Whenever someone asks me to give an example I can't think of one because they're almost not slang to me...but then I see a video like this and realise that I might say a lot of these things. A favourite my grandparents alway say of someone that's gone crazy '(s)he's gone Cadbury's'...meaning Cadbury's fruit and nut, nutcase = crazy. For someone that talks a lot, 'someone is rabbiting on'...rabbit and pork = talk.

[@bsul03420]

You can pay my fee by Gregory (Gregory Peck - cheque), or George (George Raft - bank draft), but I'd prefer it in Nelsons (Nelson Eddies - readies i.e. cash)

[@eruditootidure2611]

This kind of thing also happens in Australia. There's the word "Pome", which has gain a folk etymology as an acronym for "Product/Prisoner of Mother England", but actually originated as a sort of rhyme for "immigrant", being short for "pomegranate". They also called my (American) dad a "seppo" when he was at uni in Perth - seppo is short for "Septic" - "Septic tank" - "Tank" - "Yank"

[@Blackisciple]

That's because many of the people the emigrated from England to Australia were from London and Ireland

[@shatzinorris1417]

I just came home, after 3h of train. What a very nice gift.

[@NotQuiteFirst]

train = train wrecks = sex So you mean "I just came home, after 3h of sex. What a very nice gift."

[@maxim9280]

You should be left the word that doesn't rhyme

[@MegaBallPowerBall]

Shatzi Norris No one cares about you.

[@shatzinorris1417]

You found it so fast, bloody hell.

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

Or maybe Shatzi Norris DID spend three hours on the train!

[@morgana6425]

Awesome video! Thank you!

[@Judesmood118]

I love this episode! Love your channel :)

[@dankhnw8]

I love this channel. THIS VIDEO BETTA REMAIN MONITIZED

[@Your.Uncle.AngMoh]

Australians have their own variant of Cockney rhyming slang. To have a look at something, a Cockney would say to "have a butcher's", as in a butcher's hook. Aussies say "have a captain", as in Captain Cook, the naval officer who led the British naval expedition that including the claiming of the Australian continent for King George III (which is also a rhyming slang term). For an Aussie (and that double-s is pronounced as a "zed') "butcher's" means you're not feeling too well: I'm felling a bit butcher's; got a rumble in me guts.

[@ardvarkill]

you forgot seppo

[@Thomas-er8xg]

In my part of Australia, we don’t say “have a captain”. Are you from Sydney or NSW? “Dead horse” for tomato sauce is one that I sometimes here, but it’s never shortened to “dead”.

[@chrisgurney2467]

Yeah, we often keep the double-barreled rhyme in ours, especially more so in the bush

[@HugTower]

Seppo > Septic Tank > Yank (an American)

[@webbmd23]

Noah's ark -> shark. Jimmy Grant -> immigrant. Some believe that "Jimmy Grant" later became "pomegranate" and later "pom" to refer to British immigrants in Aus

[@alainarnaud9528]

Great! I usually love Langfocus but this one was all I wanted to know and never dared to ask about those misterioud cockney speakers! Wonderful!

[@guillaumeromain6694]

What an excellent work that is!

[@nebojsag.5871]

Was this whole thing invented just to troll stiff upper lip grammaticians?

[@davidwuhrer6704]

No, it was invented to get the filth off their case.

[@capcompass9298]

@@davidwuhrer6704 Confuse the rozzers.

[@ripme6616]

Nebojša G. .

[@ripme6616]

Don't know. says a lot about the character though

[@silvermediastudio]

to shake the coppa

[@MarcelPolman]

Heard of this before. Fantastic video. I think it promotes language evolution and creativity.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

It must be the nightmare of etymologists.

[@NathanSotoGuitar]

Thanks for posting. I've always wondered about this accent in some movies.

[@thischannelisretired9741]

In South Africa, the term "China" is used for "best friend." it's derived from China Plate = Mate

[@JY-um4su]

No cap?Im Chinese and I love this one.

[@busking6292]

China was subbed a long time ago with 'carolina' which probably has been subbed several times since.

[@BarryIon]

A significant amount of Australian local speech is derived from Cockney eg: "Dog's Eye" - Meat Pie, frog and toad - "road", dead horse or race horse - tomato sauce

[@andrewluscombe497]

And then meat pie is rhyming slang for try in the two codes of rugby. Australia has its own set of rhyming slang. Bag of fruit is my favourite.

[@BarryIon]

Andrew Luscombe true and this list goes on. Aussie slang has evolved into its own language

[@GerHanssen]

I have a funny anecdote about the "germans", meaning "hands". You must know that I am called "Ger", short for Gerard. Now I learned Esperanto many years ago and I went to this convention to meet other esperantists. I introduced myself to a Swedish boy. And after hearing my name he said: "Do tiuj estas viaj ger-manoj." (So those are your ger-hands), while pointing at my hands. I've never looked at my hands the same way as before. I am very surprised the Cockneys came to the same conclusion in a very different way.

[@user-du6hf1qo9l]

Great lesson.Thank you.lot of hard work. nice one .keep them coming..

[@thumbycastell4436]

i'm from the West Midlands and i've always grown up calling "steak and ale pie", "snake and snail pie". Also, the rhyme itself is almost never taken away, for example, you often hear people saying "I ain't got a scooby doo" rather than just "scooby" (the scooby doo is extremely common)

[@jameelahedwards8550]

I was introduced to Cockney Rhyming Slang through *Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.* Check it out if you want to hear it in conversation.

[@elton1981]

That segment where he's telling the story of the bloke in the pub lighting someone on fire is fantastic. "...an aristotle of the most ping-pong tiddly in the nuclear-sub" and the subtitles in a much more formal register of English just add to the comedy.

[@EriAirlangga]

And in *Mind Your Language* series kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXqye5R4dtyFqpIm27s

[@edyoung646]

add "mr lucky" starring cockney cary grant ta that list~

[@Adaadam1996]

In Australia many people often call tomato sauce (ketchup) ‘dead horse’ because it rhymes with sauce. Also the term ‘chunder’ which means to vomit in Australia came from Chunder Loo which rhymes with spew.

[@capcompass9298]

Also on the ships going to the Antipodes, those "chundering" over the sides used to shout "Watch under" so those below could pull their heads back in the port-hole. (I have seen the results of someone who didn't get his head in fast enough).

[@oltrelingua2353]

Nice work! Really interesting.

[@Blaqjaqshellaq]

You can see an ancestor of rhyming slang in the nursery rhyme that goes, "Oranges and lemons, say the Bells of St. Clemens"! BTW, a lot of New Yorkers also pronounce "-er" as "ah."

[@andrewdeangelo1]

I'll give you three farthings ring the bells of Saint Martin's

[@djomlas888]

Check out šatrovački used in the Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian language. It had the same function as cockney as it was used by criminals but it became widespread. Basically it's just spliting a word in half and then switching the order of the halves - bazen( swimming pool) becomes zenba and so on...

[@-receptor4803]

Djomlas the French do that too, it's called "verlan" (verlan for l'invers = inversion) only difference is French is pronounced mostly different from how it's written and therefore it's not always readily recognisable when it's written down. L'invers -> lanver -> verlan

[@nobbynobbynoob]

Kind of like pig Latin?

[@smvuy]

it was common in uruguay as well

[@jimsmith2902]

There is a direct equivalent of verlan in English too, it is called back-slang. But it has never been widely used, mostly used in just a few trades and by criminals. So, whereas quite a lot of rhyming slang is known and used by many people, even if the people using it don't know it is rhyming slang, not much back-slang has made its way into everyday English. One word that has is "yob", which is back-slang for "boy", but it isn't used as a general alternative for "boy", it's used specifically to refer to badly behaved, anti-social youths, so pretty much synonymous with "hooligan" or "lout".

[@filfostur1757]

Two videos in a week I love you Paul

[@flora20]

Recently items called Dickie Bags have become popular - they’re little cloth zip up water proof bags that you can use to put the used dog poo bags in whilst you’re on a walk (usually there are never any dog poo bins around when you need them!) the name has perplexed many people but they’re named after Richard III (in rhyming slang) and you can figure out what it rhymes with!

[@mauchkimberly]

Thanks. I've wondered about this. Very educational.

[@Cogskate]

I'm the daughter of a proud Cockney, and your video was spot on! My dad's family use rhyming slang a lot, even though they no longer live in London. I grew up with 'plates', 'apples', and 'a cup of Rosie' being everyday words. Thanks for the memories! When you do a video on a topic I'm already familiar with, it shows me how carefully you do your research. This means that I can learn from you with confidence when you post on topics about which I know less (or nothing!)

[@forrestgumpfan321]

Could you also do other videos on other accents and dialects in England?

[@masterimbecile]

forrestgumpfan321 Liverpool is a neat one.

[@thryduulf]

Geordie would my first vote for a video. Bristol and Westcountry (not the same!) 2nd and 3rd.

[@thryduulf]

@masterimbecile yeah that is an interesting one, it's got a lot of influences.

[@DogCompanion]

Yorkshire would be good

[@jackcooper4998]

Adding to the list I think Cumbrian would be good, like the sheep-counting system &c.

[@Lepewhi]

Fascinating! Thanks

[@zw54too49]

Oh thanks you help me a lot to understand some sentences in Clockwork Orange. I'm from Germany, but I read the book in English. It's super hard. So now I know what Alex mean with "sharp and blunt" 😅

[@nicksantangelo1774]

Loved the "another one" reference! AHAHA. Also, very interesting to learn about.

[@leszekkadelski9569]

To me it is batshit crazy but quite enjoyable. Do you know there is something vaguely similar in Polish? We use quotes from old Polish movies (and some new ones too) in regular conversation. To make out a meaning of a quote the recipient of the message has to know the context it was used in movie. Here's an example "W pizdu wylądował" (landed as a brick/crashed). You can take this sentence as it is, but the movie context is as follows - two Polish guys are waiting with high anticipation for a foreigner coming in in a helicopter. Heli gets crashed and foreigner is dead. So "W pizdu wylądował" means more like "it was a total disaster" (mockingly). I bet this is quite confusing for anyone that tries to learn Polish and hears this kind of sentences without knowing the context.

[@roeidavid5340]

Thanks! A really cool video

[@mariksen]

This phenomeon is so creative, awesome, original, but so incredibly difficult!! :D It looks like you have to know A LOT of BOTH English AND the English history AND pop culture!

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

If you grew up watching “The Sweeney”, then you had a head start in this.

[@dlhussain81]

No prizes for guessing what trouble and strife is! 😂

[@allmendoubt4784]

ball and chain?

[@morgengabe1]

Michael Caine

[@marklovell1419]

Tom bradey

[@morgengabe1]

Dove of my knife

[@royh4305]

It's the wife!

[@Vero_la_fea]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@chloerayn]

Woah you learn something new every day!

[@Trashpanda979]

I went inside the cat and up the apples, well...

[@kalvincastro9042]

haas de zwarte Sounds like a bloody right time if I say so myself, mate.

[@ronizuckerman7785]

Such a genius invention

[@phwbooth]

One of your best, Mr Paul.

[@markleon411]

Because the majority of convicts sent to the penal colonies of Australia were from central London, Cockney slang formed the basis of Australian slang which is spoken to this day. It diverged slightly from its origins to use local icons and idioms but uses the same principles. You can hear rhyming slang in Australia down just about any dog and toad ;-)

[@fakerinmyroom]

I didn't even know that these slangs have a pattern, because I rarely heard them. So nice that you've threaten my tail, thanks!

[@woei4877]

Can't figure out the "threaten my tail" ;T

[@thegreyfedora8532]

This is crazy, I think I just found a new slang language to speak with my friends.

[@ricardogadelha5003]

Oooooooooooook, my mind is blown right now. Thanks for the great artist, Paul! Video = Cameo = Artist cameo I suck.

[@andrewclover1462]

This is my favorite KZbin channel.

[@mekialihussain9602]

"Are you having a laugh?" usually becomes "Are you having a bubble?" Laugh rhymes with bath so bubble bath is the pair. "Are you having a bubble bath laugh?" Finally, "Are you having a bubble?"

[@terryfied7942]

a bubble is often used to describe a Greek; bubble and squeak

[@lovestarlightgiver2402]

Paul's language videos are the east and west! ("East and west" means "best")

[@asheiou]

That pair makes sense

[@justacinnamonbun8658]

So... We didn't need Navajo code talkers in WWII?? All we needed was to use Cockney and the Axis powers would have been in the dark on what the hell was going on if they heard our radio communication?? 😆

[@zulkiflijamil4033]

This is very interesting video. Thank you.

[@Sxcheschka]

I'm pretty certain I've seen vids of your content before, but not sure, but overall seriously awesome content mate!

[@Langfocus]

Thanks, Nich! There are lots more videos on my channel for you to check out. 👍🏻 I hope you like them 😊

[@Sxcheschka]

@@Langfocus Oh I def will, and thanks for making awesome content man! :)

[@betweenprojects]

In my experience, London kids typically learn what these phrases mean first without knowing that they are rhyming slang. My dad just called his hat his 'tidfer'. I knew it was an informal/playful thing to call it but never knew why.

[@fizr8618]

Fred Grant I think this is true all over the UK, I’m over 100 miles from London and lots of rhyming slang words are used but I don’t think they are consciously recognised as rhyming slang, although it would be obvious if it was pointed out. It’s just part of regular slang.

[@DavidJHoney]

Tidfer tat = hat

[@betweenprojects]

Fiz R Exactly.

[@Langfocus]

So “tit for tat” became tidfer? Haha, that one’s great.

[@qploper]

Yeah, I just googled and found a few that I never knew was rhyming slang like blowing a raspberry (tart -> fart), going for a jimmy (riddle? -> piddle) sat in the park on my tod (sloane -> own) taking the mickey (bliss -> piss) you better scarper (scapa flow -> go - main british navy base in ww1 and 2) youre talking cobblers (awl's -> balls/bollocks -> nonsense - its a tool used to fix shoes by a cobbler). I dunno if blower meaning phone is another one or not. Don't look like it

[@Jansay34]

It's sad how the creator had to make that intro...

[@Langfocus]

Yes, KZbin is on a rampage. They've been demonetizing every new video I post, until I can get them to manually review it. But sometimes they refuse to do a manually review. Check out my video on Finnish and read the pinned comment that explains what KZbin has done. It's pretty stunning. kzbin.info/www/bejne/el7YiIysod6YeMU

[@Jansay34]

Yup, you did not oversell that one: it was pretty stunning. Next thing we know making thumbs up will be offensive too because thumbs look kinda like the male genitalia. -.-

[@fbnflaviusbroadcastingnetw6786]

Langfocus dude they’re going after everything everyone.. even dogman encounters radio! Googles ruining youtube!

[@BaSsGaZ]

I think taking out the rhymes takes all the fun from it. I like "lego blocks" for socks instead of "legos", that just makes it sound like a slang synonym than a cockeny.

[@avengingterrier3244]

I'm a Cockney mate, and the last thing I honestly expected to see here was an American schooling me in my own language. What a geezer.

[@atriyakoller136]

Thank you for watching and have a nice ocean. . . . . . . Ocean and bay

[@Jallge]

Here's a couple more for the head area: - Barnet Fair = Hair - Gregory Peck = Neck

[@terryfied7942]

@Griffith Williams actually its normally just barnet, as in "going darn the frog to get me barnet cut"

[@mrafeht]

Had a giraffe having a butchers at this, must go Sweeney after me

[@brianmidmore2221]

I haven't a Scooby is now very common in England. 'Use your loaf' is also well used. 'Give us a Butchers' is quite common.

[@peccantis]

Don't you try to roundhouse me, young lady! I can see right through you. Roundhouse kick. ... Trick.

[@a.maus.2615]

i really like this one since "roundhouse" sounds like a creative simile to trick

[@fat1fared]

Alas, this form of English is dying out. I used to live very close to Bow, and never once heard someone speak like this. In fact, the historic dialectal diversity of the UK is somewhat dying out, with each generation sounding more and more generic, due to mass communication. I include myself in this.

[@fat1fared]

I do not believe I said they did.

[@Roxor128]

So, Britain is going the way of Australia? We only have a handful of accents down here, and it's been hypothesised that relatively rapid communication between the colonies (taking a ship around the coast from, say, Sydney to Brisbane) was a factor in it.

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

This has been gradually increasing since Chaucer's time though. He began the spread of uniform words throughout England by telling stories to travellers while travelling with them himself. It increased a lot with the introduction of compulsory education where proper English was taught in schools. If you want your speech/dialect/language to survive though, write books in it and teach your young to sing songs in it.

[@alastairstephens5628]

I am a Londoner and either lived or worked in the East End for 15 years. The population has changed a lot in Bow (BTW Bow is an area further East if the area of St Mary le Beau though the two are often conflated and the ancient Bow church confused with St Mary’s). It is mostly inhabited by incomers from elsewhere in Britain (and is even now being gentrified) and immigrants from Bangladesh and theier descendants. The latter speak their own variety of London English, a version of east London English but influenced by Bengali pronunciation (or rather Sulheti which is what they actually speak) and increasingly influenced by British black English, or Jafakon as it is sometimes derisively known (especially when spoken by White people). The original inhabitants of the East End moved Outward’s in what has been a continual process of suburbanisation. The Cockneys moved outwards into suburban east London and Essex taking their accent with them where it mother into Estuary English, probably the now dominant accent amongst working class Londoners (replacing other regional London accents such as south London). The East End’s Jewish inhabitants (and it was the main area of Jewish immigration) however moved northwards into areas like Golders Green and Finchley in suburban north London where their accents shifted to a version of standard middle class English, but with Jewish (Yiddish?) traits and patterns of speech, in a shift which was one of both area and class. The move trek to the suburbs is now one also being followed by Bengalis who are increasingly moving out into suburban east London boroughs such as Newham and Redbridge where they mix their accents with more traditional London accents and other immigrant groups such as Pakistanis, and increasingly with east Europeans whose affect on the language has yet to be seen, but will probably show up with time.

[@TombstoneHeart]

I think it's happening a lot in the English speaking world and for a lot of different reasons. I saw a TV documentary on disappearing speech patterns and one of the examples given was that you no longer heard someone from South London say they were from "Sarf London". It's the same here in the Great Southern Land. Aussies once had a great ability to invent witty similes, but if I use one in front of a someone younger than me these days, I will usually have to explain it to them. Similes such as "as fit as a Mallee bull" or "as silly as a wheel" or "as game ( brave ) as Ned Kelly" and many more will simply get you a blank look. In fact, similes here in Oz have been reduced to a level of stupidity that makes me grind my teeth, because people now don't even finish the simile. It's so common now to hear some one say, "It's as good - as sweet - as hot as........" and that's it. I completely lost my temper one day at work with a young bloke who described his recent holiday as "as good as....." I reached across the table and grabbed him by the throat and yelled, "Finish the f***ing simile or I'm gonna kill you!" I know that doing that didn't make any difference, but rampant stupidity like that in young people makes me..well..it makes me as wild as a cut snake!

[@ronaldstevenson7925]

Mate, someone's been pulling your pisser with half of these. I live in this language and you have been well and truly done up like a kipper.

[@murraymanitos]

Fascinating!!