Cockney Rhyming Slang
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50 free Cockney Rhyming Slang trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Cockney rhyming slang is a code hiding in plain sight. A speaker swaps an ordinary word for a short phrase that rhymes with it, then usually throws away the part that rhymes, so the listener is left holding a word that seems to have nothing to do with the subject. Londoners have been playing this game since the reign of Queen Victoria, and a surprising number of the results are now ordinary British English, used by people who have no idea they are speaking in rhyme. This quiz starts with the phrases most people have met and works towards the ones that puzzle even Londoners. You will be asked what well-known expressions and their shortened forms mean, which singers, sports stars, composers and London landmarks lent their names to a rhyme, how Cockneys talk about money, and where the slang turns up in film, television and print. A few questions cover the history: who first wrote the rhymes down, and what makes someone a Cockney in the first place. It is written for fans of British television and crime dramas, visitors and expats trying to follow a conversation in an East End pub, Londoners testing their own vocabulary, and quiz hosts who want a ready-made round. Every answer comes with a short explanation that spells out the full rhyme.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Blowing a raspberry, the rude noise made with tongue and lips, is named after Cockney rhyming slang for what?
A fart
A fart is what 'raspberry tart' stood for before speakers dropped the rhyming half. Americans shortened the word again and got 'razz'.
Q 02The advice to 'use your loaf', common in Britain since the 1930s, clips a Cockney rhyme for which body part?
Head
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.
Q 03A Cockney who spent all morning 'on the dog', clipped from a rhyme about what dogs chew, was doing what?
Making a phone call
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.
Q 04A Briton accused of 'telling porkies', a clipped Cockney rhyme on a savoury pastry, has been doing what?
Lying
Lying is the charge, because 'porkies' are pork pies, a rhyme for lies. The longer form 'porky pies' is just as common.
Q 05In the Cockney exclamation 'Would you Adam and Eve it?', the first couple of Genesis replace which verb?
Believe
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.
Q 06By tradition, a true Cockney is born within earshot of the bells of which City of London church?
St Mary-le-Bow
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.
Q 07A Londoner asking to 'have a butcher's' at your holiday photos, a rhyme on a meat hook, wants to do what?
Look at them
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.
Q 08'Apples and pears', printed in the first glossary of rhyming slang in 1859, is Cockney for which word?
Stairs
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.
Q 09Which Belfast singer, with five Top Twenty hits in one week of 1955, is Cockney rhyming slang for curry?
Ruby Murray
Ruby Murray is said to have found the rhyme amusing. Her surname is usually dropped, so a diner simply goes out 'for a ruby'.
Q 10A Cockney man's 'trouble', clipped from a phrase ending in a word for bitter conflict, is which relative?
His wife
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.
Q 11A Cockney who admires a neighbour's 'barnet', a rhyme on a north London event first held in 1588, is praising what?
Her hair
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.
Q 12A Cockney resting sore 'plates', clipped from a three-word rhyme about food, is nursing which body part?
Feet
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.
Q 13In Cockney rhyming slang a person's 'minces', clipped from the name of a Christmas pastry, are what?
Eyes
Eyes rhyme with mince pies, which is why the slang is nearly always used in the plural as 'minces'.
Q 21A Cockney who says his boss 'rabbits on', clipped from a rhyme naming a meat, means she never stops what?
Talking
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.
Q 22A Cockney who says 'you're having a bubble', clipped from a rhyme on a foamy soak, thinks you are having what?
A laugh
A laugh is the rhyme for 'bubble bath', at least in a Cockney accent. The speaker means that you cannot possibly be serious.
Q 23In Cockney rhyming slang, which word does the kitchen-cupboard phrase 'jam jar' stand for?
Car
Car is the meaning, so a proud Cockney might show off a new jam jar on the drive.
Q 14A Cockney's 'boat', clipped from the Oxford and Cambridge contest on the Thames, is which body part?
Face
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.
Q 15A Cockney's 'Hampsteads', a rhyme on a north London open space first recorded in 1887, are what?
Teeth
Teeth rhyme with Hampstead Heath. Until the 1880s Londoners had used a different open space for the same rhyme, Hounslow Heath.
Q 16'Me old china', a Cockney greeting clipped from a rhyme on a piece of crockery, is said to whom?
A friend
A friend, or mate, is the rhyme for 'china plate'. The greeting keeps only the first word, so the plate itself is never mentioned.
Q 17A Cockney with a stiff 'Gregory', clipped from the name of the star of To Kill a Mockingbird, has a sore what?
Neck
Neck rhymes with Gregory Peck. The Hollywood star does double duty in rhyming slang, because his name can also stand for a cheque.
Q 18A Cockney groom in his best 'whistle', clipped from a rhyme on two musical instruments, is wearing what?
A suit
A suit rhymes with 'whistle and flute'. The flute is usually left unsaid, so a well-dressed man is praised for his sharp whistle.
Q 19A Cockney's 'titfer', squeezed from a three-word phrase for like-for-like revenge, is which item of clothing?
Hat
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.
Q 20In Cockney rhyming slang a 'syrup', clipped from the name of an old-fashioned laxative, is what?
A wig
A wig rhymes with 'syrup of figs', a laxative long sold by British chemists. The phrase is often cut to its first word.
Q 24Which word did Victorian Cockneys replace with 'frog and toad', a rhyme already in print by 1859?
Road
Road is the word, though the 1859 glossary that printed the phrase defined it more exactly as 'the main road'.
Q 25Which drink is 'Rosie Lee' to a Cockney, a rhyme that began as military slang in the early twentieth century?
Tea
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'.
Q 26In Cockney rhyming slang, which word does the bakery phrase 'brown bread' stand for?
Dead
Dead is the meaning, and the phrase works as an adjective: a battery, a plan or a person can all be 'brown bread'.
Q 27A Londoner who announces that she is 'Hank Marvin', after the lead guitarist of the Shadows, is feeling what?
Very hungry
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.
Q 28A Briton who says she is 'cream crackered', a rhyme built on a dry savoury biscuit, is what?
Exhausted
Exhausted is the meaning, by way of a rhyme with 'knackered'. The cream cracker behind the phrase was invented in Dublin around 1885.
Q 29A Cockney who admits to being 'brassic', a worn-down rhyme on the medical dressing boracic lint, is what?
Penniless
Penniless is the meaning, because boracic lint rhymes with skint. Speakers swallowed a vowel along the way, and the spelling 'brassic' followed the sound.
Q 30A Cockney who steps outside and says it is 'taters', clipped from a rhyme about potatoes, means it is what?
Very cold
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.