If someone said to you, “My loaf of bread hurts because I’ve
0)
been
on the dog and
bone all day”, chances are you would think
1)
. . . . . . . . were crazy! But if you said this
exact same thing to a Cockney, or someone from the East End of London, he would
simply tell you to take an aspirin!
Translated
2)
. . . . . . . . ordinary English, then, this sentence means “My head hurts
because I’ve been on the telephone all day”. This is because ‘head’ rhymes with ‘bread’
and ‘bone’ rhymes with ‘phone’. Over the years, the residents of London’s East End have
developed a whole dialect, called Cockney rhyming slang
3)
. . . . . . . . this way. For example,
‘mince pies’ are ‘eyes’, ‘boat race’ is ‘face’ and ‘apples and pears’ are ‘stairs’. However, people often
don’t bother saying the rhyming word. ‘Butcher’s hook’, for instance, means ‘look’, but Londoners
don’t say ‘let’s have a butcher’s hook’, they say ‘let’s have a butcher’s’.
4)
. . . . . . . . this reason, it
can be very hard for outsiders to work
5)
. . . . . . . . what a particular phrase means!
East Enders have been using their rhyming slang
6)
. . . . . . . . around the mid-19th century. Some
people believe that it was simply a linguistic accident, whereas others think that locals,
especially villains, used it as a secret code to confuse police and eavesdroppers*.
7)
. . . . . . . .
days, some Cockney rhyming slang phrases are even used by people in the rest of Britain,
such as ‘use your loaf’, meaning ‘use your common sense’ (loaf of bread: head). New phrases
sometimes appear too, like ‘wind and kite’ (web site) or words
8)
. . . . . . . . rhyme with
celebrities or famous people. So, whatever
the origins of Cockney rhyming slang,
one thing is for sure - it’s still very much
alive today!
*
people who listen secretly to what
others are saying
3
In pairs, ask and answer questions based on the text.
4
Look at the table, then complete the examples with
appropriate Cockney expressions.
1
Well, look who it is! I don’t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . it!
2
Your secret’s safe with me. I won’t say a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
The exam went well. It was . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
What has Adam done to his . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?
It looks awful!
5
Tim looks very smart in his new . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !
5
What slang do you use in your
country? Compare it to Cockney
rhyming slang.
dog and bone
bread and honey
apples and pears
jam jar
plates of meat
boat race
Cockney
Meaning
Adam and Eve
believe
Barnet Fair
hair
dicky bird
word
easy‒peasy lemon squeezy easy
whistle and flute
suit
MODULE 1
36
1
Look at the pictures and the phrases
under each. How can they be related?
Read the text to find out.
2
Read the text again and complete the gaps 1‒8 with
the correct word, then compare with your partner. Listen
and check. What is the author’s purpose?
