50 Fun Facts About Cockney Rhyming Slang

Blowing a raspberry, the rude noise made with tongue and lips, is named after Cockney rhyming slang for what?

A fart is what 'raspberry tart' stood for before speakers dropped the rhyming half. Americans shortened the word again and got 'razz'.

The advice to 'use your loaf', common in Britain since the 1930s, clips a Cockney rhyme for which body part?

Head is the missing rhyme: the full phrase is 'loaf of bread'. It dates from the late nineteenth century, but only the first word made it into everyday speech.

A Cockney who spent all morning 'on the dog', clipped from a rhyme about what dogs chew, was doing what?

Making a phone call is the meaning, because the full phrase is 'dog and bone'. Speakers who say only the first word hide the rhyme from outsiders.

A Briton accused of 'telling porkies', a clipped Cockney rhyme on a savoury pastry, has been doing what?

Lying is the charge, because 'porkies' are pork pies, a rhyme for lies. The longer form 'porky pies' is just as common.

In the Cockney exclamation 'Would you Adam and Eve it?', the first couple of Genesis replace which verb?

Believe is the word, so the phrase is a cry of astonishment. It is unusual among rhyming slang in standing for a verb, since most rhymes replace nouns.

By tradition, a true Cockney is born within earshot of the bells of which City of London church?

St Mary-le-Bow on Cheapside houses the famous Bow Bells. The bells fell silent in 1940 and were not replaced until 1961, so by the strict test no Cockney could be born for two decades.

A Londoner asking to 'have a butcher's' at your holiday photos, a rhyme on a meat hook, wants to do what?

Look at them is what the Londoner means, since a 'butcher's hook' rhymes with look. The clipped form has stood alone in general British use since about the 1930s.

'Apples and pears', printed in the first glossary of rhyming slang in 1859, is Cockney for which word?

Stairs is the meaning, though a Cockney is more likely to go 'up the apples' and leave the pears unsaid. The same 1859 list offered 'Duke of York' for taking a walk.

Which Belfast singer, with five Top Twenty hits in one week of 1955, is Cockney rhyming slang for curry?

Ruby Murray is said to have found the rhyme amusing. Her surname is usually dropped, so a diner simply goes out 'for a ruby'.

A Cockney man's 'trouble', clipped from a phrase ending in a word for bitter conflict, is which relative?

His wife is the 'trouble and strife'. Australians took up the same rhyme, so the phrase is at home on both sides of the world.

A Cockney who admires a neighbour's 'barnet', a rhyme on a north London event first held in 1588, is praising what?

Her hair is the rhyme for Barnet Fair, a livestock fair chartered by Elizabeth I. The slang dates from the 1850s and long ago shed its second word.

A Cockney resting sore 'plates', clipped from a three-word rhyme about food, is nursing which body part?

Feet are 'plates of meat' in full. The phrase exists only in the plural, and in speech it is nearly always cut down to its first word.

In Cockney rhyming slang a person's 'minces', clipped from the name of a Christmas pastry, are what?

Eyes rhyme with mince pies, which is why the slang is nearly always used in the plural as 'minces'.

A Cockney's 'boat', clipped from the Oxford and Cambridge contest on the Thames, is which body part?

Face is the rhyme for 'boat race'. The Oxford and Cambridge crews first met in 1829, and their contest grew famous enough for Londoners to borrow its name.

A Cockney's 'Hampsteads', a rhyme on a north London open space first recorded in 1887, are what?

Teeth rhyme with Hampstead Heath. Until the 1880s Londoners had used a different open space for the same rhyme, Hounslow Heath.

'Me old china', a Cockney greeting clipped from a rhyme on a piece of crockery, is said to whom?

A friend, or mate, is the rhyme for 'china plate'. The greeting keeps only the first word, so the plate itself is never mentioned.

A Cockney with a stiff 'Gregory', clipped from the name of the star of To Kill a Mockingbird, has a sore what?

Neck rhymes with Gregory Peck. The Hollywood star does double duty in rhyming slang, because his name can also stand for a cheque.

A Cockney groom in his best 'whistle', clipped from a rhyme on two musical instruments, is wearing what?

A suit rhymes with 'whistle and flute'. The flute is usually left unsaid, so a well-dressed man is praised for his sharp whistle.

A Cockney's 'titfer', squeezed from a three-word phrase for like-for-like revenge, is which item of clothing?

Hat is the rhyme for 'tit for tat', which was clipped to 'tit for' and then run together. The squashed form dates from the 1930s.

In Cockney rhyming slang a 'syrup', clipped from the name of an old-fashioned laxative, is what?

A wig rhymes with 'syrup of figs', a laxative long sold by British chemists. The phrase is often cut to its first word.

A Cockney who says his boss 'rabbits on', clipped from a rhyme naming a meat, means she never stops what?

Talking is the meaning, from 'rabbit and pork', which in a London accent rhymes neatly with talk. The rhyming word fell away, leaving the animal to carry the sense.

A Cockney who says 'you're having a bubble', clipped from a rhyme on a foamy soak, thinks you are having what?

A laugh is the rhyme for 'bubble bath', at least in a Cockney accent. The speaker means that you cannot possibly be serious.

In Cockney rhyming slang, which word does the kitchen-cupboard phrase 'jam jar' stand for?

Car is the meaning, so a proud Cockney might show off a new jam jar on the drive.

Which word did Victorian Cockneys replace with 'frog and toad', a rhyme already in print by 1859?

Road is the word, though the 1859 glossary that printed the phrase defined it more exactly as 'the main road'.

Which drink is 'Rosie Lee' to a Cockney, a rhyme that began as military slang in the early twentieth century?

Tea is 'Rosie Lee', sometimes spelt 'Rosy Lee'. Servicemen used the rhyme first, and it then settled into London speech, often cut down to plain 'Rosie'.

In Cockney rhyming slang, which word does the bakery phrase 'brown bread' stand for?

Dead is the meaning, and the phrase works as an adjective: a battery, a plan or a person can all be 'brown bread'.

A Londoner who announces that she is 'Hank Marvin', after the lead guitarist of the Shadows, is feeling what?

Very hungry is the meaning, because Hank Marvin rhymes with starving. The guitarist was born Brian Rankin and found fame with instrumentals such as Apache.

A Briton who says she is 'cream crackered', a rhyme built on a dry savoury biscuit, is what?

Exhausted is the meaning, by way of a rhyme with 'knackered'. The cream cracker behind the phrase was invented in Dublin around 1885.

A Cockney who admits to being 'brassic', a worn-down rhyme on the medical dressing boracic lint, is what?

Penniless is the meaning, because boracic lint rhymes with skint. Speakers swallowed a vowel along the way, and the spelling 'brassic' followed the sound.

A Cockney who steps outside and says it is 'taters', clipped from a rhyme about potatoes, means it is what?

Very cold is the meaning, from 'taters in the mould'. Tater is an old colloquial word for a potato, and only that first word of the rhyme is normally spoken.

Which legendary noblewoman is Cockney rhyming slang for a five-pound note, sometimes clipped to her title alone?

Lady Godiva rhymes with fiver. Londoners have a second rhyme for the same note, the 'deep sea diver'.

Which Brazilian Formula One driver's name became British rhyming slang for a ten-pound note?

Ayrton Senna rhymes with tenner, and the note is often just 'an Ayrton'. Another rhyme for the same sum is 'cock and hen', or 'cockle' for short.

In London money slang a 'pony' is £25, but which animal's name stands for £500?

Monkey means £500, one of several London money words that are not rhymes at all. A thousand pounds is simply 'a grand'.

Which kind of machine in east London began offering Cockney rhyming slang as a language option in a 2009 trial?

Cash machines run by one operator swapped the word cash for 'sausage and mash'. The operator said 15 to 20 per cent of users picked the Cockney prompts when offered.

A Cockney who admits he 'half-inched' a bicycle, using a rhyme on a small measurement, did what to it?

Stole it: 'half-inch' rhymes with pinch, itself an informal word for stealing, so the meaning hides behind two layers of slang.

The 1970s police drama The Sweeney takes its title from rhyming slang for which Metropolitan Police unit?

Flying Squad rhymes with Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street. London's underworld was already using the nickname for the robbery detectives before television borrowed it.

A Londoner who has 'done bird', clipped from a rhyme on the sticky trapping paste birdlime, has done what?

Served a prison sentence is the meaning, because birdlime rhymes with time, as in doing time. Birdlime itself was a glue spread on twigs to catch small birds.

Which pair of composers, often clipped to the first name alone, is Cockney rhyming slang for being drunk?

Brahms and Liszt rhymes with a ruder word for drunk. The Hungarian is often dropped, so a reveller is simply 'a bit Brahms'.

An elderly Cockney described as 'a bit Mutt and Jeff', after two American comic-strip characters, is what?

Hard of hearing is the meaning, since Jeff rhymes with deaf. The mismatched pair, one tall and one short, appeared in American newspapers until 1983.

Which British dance DJ's name became rhyming slang for things going wrong, and the title of a 2004 film?

Pete Tong rhymes with wrong. Fellow DJ Paul Oakenfold is said to have coined the phrase in 1987, in a fanzine article about acid house.

'Joanna' is Cockney rhyming slang for which instrument, a rhyme that only works in a London accent?

Piano is the answer, because Cockneys pronounced the word 'pianna'. The phrase is most often said as 'the old Joanna'.

In Piers Plowman, the earliest recorded use of the word 'cockney' means a small, misshapen what?

Egg is the answer: the Middle English word literally meant a 'cock's egg'. Whether the Londoner's nickname grew out of it is still argued over, since some scholars see two separate words.

John Camden Hotten's 1859 slang dictionary traced rhyming slang to street patterers in which London district?

Seven Dials, a junction of seven streets in Covent Garden, is where Hotten placed its birth, among hawkers he called 'chaunters' and 'patterers'. Most accounts now favour the East End.

Tod Sloan, the American whose first name survives in the British phrase 'on your tod', was famous as what?

A jockey, Sloan rode so many winners in England that Cockneys rhymed his surname with 'own'. To be on your tod is to be alone.

In Cockney slang a 'kettle', often explained as a rhyme on 'kettle and hob', is which item a pickpocket might target?

A watch is the meaning. The usual story rhymes 'kettle and hob' with fob, a gentleman's watch pocket, though some slang scholars say early pocket watches simply looked like kettles.

In Cockney rhyming slang, 'tom', clipped from a long word for silly behaviour, is what kind of valuables?

Jewellery is the meaning, a rhyme with 'tomfoolery'. The clipped form is the usual one, so a burglar's haul of rings and bracelets is simply 'tom'.

A Cockney straightening his 'Peckham', a rhyme on a south London open space, is adjusting what?

His tie is the meaning, because the full phrase is 'Peckham Rye'. The rhyme dates from the late nineteenth century.

Which animal was a 'Charing Cross' to Victorian Cockneys, a rhyme that no longer works in a London accent?

Horse is the answer. The rhyme relied on a vowel pattern, the lot-cloth split, that was common in London at the time but has since faded.

A British graduate who got a 'Desmond', named after a South African archbishop, earned which class of degree?

A 2:2 is the lower second, and Desmond Tutu supplies the rhyme with 'two-two'. Students have a full set: a first is a 'Geoff Hurst' and a third a 'Douglas Hurd'.

Which Bristol-born Hollywood star teaches a companion rhyming slang in the 1943 film Mr. Lucky?

Cary Grant plays a gambler who teaches the rhymes to a socialite, though the film describes them as Australian. Rhyming slang was sometimes known as Australian slang in the American underworld.