A beginner's guide to Cockney Rhyming Slang
Dictionary of Cockney
Cockney rhyming slang list
The Brit List: 15 Cockney Rhyming Slang Terms
Cockney rhyming slang explained
Cockney rhyming slang: contextual examples (The trouble's been shopping again) MY WIFE
Money slang (so that you can understand the picture above). More money slang here.
Some phrases have entered common British speech and are used daily without any awareness of their Cockney origins. Examples include:
- use your loaf (loaf of bread = head)
- have a butcher’s (butcher’s hook = look)
- cobblers – rubbish (cobbler’s awls = balls)
- porkies (pork pies = lies)
- donkeys (donkeys’ ears = years)
QI :
Transcript here
Explanation of the Cockney rhyming slang used in this episode:
Stephen Fry: Tonight, we're talking Cockney rhyming slang,
so without further tea for [tea for two:
ado], let's have a butcher's
[butcher's hook: look] at our four
bulletproofs [bulletproof vests: guests].
They're all three stops down from Plaistow [Barking (on the London
Underground): mad], but never mind, let's Georgie [Georgie Best: test] their orientals [oriental bazaars: buzzers].
Bill: You want me to Ursula Andress [press] me Jenson [Jenson Button: button]?
Phil: Would you like me to Eartha [Eartha Kitt: hit] my Dingly
[Dingly Dell: bell]?
Stephen Fry: Now, tonight, any flamencos [flamenco dances: answers] you give in Pyong [Pyong Yang: slang] score Barney [Barney Rubble: double]. And
I'll also give you two Sundays [Sunday
joints: points] if, at any nickel and dime
[time] . . . you woman
[woman-who-does: buzz] in and want to lubricant
[lubricant gel: tell] me . . . what I'm on about.
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Couldn't find nuffink for ya this time. Try searchin again
Oh well, now i can't refrain!!
ReplyDeleteYou looked a bit scoobied in class when i told you about it didn't you? so 'ere is the scene from the film..... Cockney accent!
Actually it's brilliant by itself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd9grNBmGCY
I didn't remember at that precise moment. Can you Adam & Eve it? (Can you believe it?). It's 'My Fair Lady' based on the play 'Pygmalion' by Bernard Shaw.
ReplyDeleteNow, the video you found is a clear example of one of the typical features of Cockney pronunciation: dropping the "h".
A VERY BASIC GUIDE TO COCKNEY PRONUNCIATION
It’s often hard to understand the Cockney accent, as they never pronounce the H at the beginning of a word, so that, for example, "head" becomes "‘ead".
Another problem is that they don’t pronounce the T inside a word - for example "mate" becomes "ma’e".
They don’t pronounce the TH sound inside a word, but change it to V sound, so "brother" becomes "brovver".
In words that finish in -er, they change it to -a, so that "brother" becomes "brovva".
Lastly, if a word finishes with an O sound, they change it to a A sound, so that "piano" becomes "piana".
In the following video with a sketch from the Catherine Tate Show where she plays the schoolgirl with a surly attitude, there are examples of Cockney pronunciation too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSNK-9v7_JI
much better - much be'er
what is she, mate? - ma'e
It's bling, bling, mate - ma'e
Bing, bing. That is bad
Am I bothered? - bovvered?
Am I bothered, though? - bovvered
I don't care, I ain't bothered - bovvered