Cockney Rhyming Slang Cockney rhyming slang is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London . Many of its expressions have passed into common language, and the creation of new ones is no longer restricted to Cockneys. Up until the late 20th Century, rhyming slang was also common in Australian slang, probably due to the formative influence of cockney on Australian English. It developed as a way of obscuring the meaning of sentences to those who did not understand the slang , though it remains a matter of speculation whether this was a linguistic accident, or whether it was developed intentionally to assist criminals or to maintain a particular community. Rhyming slang works by replacing the word to be obscured with the first word of a phrase that rhymes with that word. For instance, "face" would be replaced by "boat," because face rhymes with "boat race." Similarly "feet" becomes "plates" ("plates of meat"), and "money" is "bread" (a very common usage, from "bread and honey"). Sometimes the full phrase is used, for example "Currant Bun" to mean "The Sun" (often referring to the British tabloid newspaper of that name). There is no hard and fast rule for this, and you just have to know whether a particular expression is always shortened, never shortened, or can be used either way. Other examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang, or phrases inspired by it, are: Adam and Eve = believe = as in "would you Adam and Eve it?"

Almond Rocks = socks

Apples and pears = stairs

Aris = Aristotle = bottle & glass = arse (a two-stage rhyme) [see Plaster below]

Artful Dodger = lodger

Ascot Races = braces

Aunt Joanna = piano

Bag of fruit = suit

Baked Bean = queen

Baker's Dozen = cousin

Ball and Chalk = walk

Barnaby Rudge = judge

Barnet = Barnet Fair = hair

Berk or Burk = Berkshire Hunt = cunt (used as an insult, never as an anatomical reference)

Boat = boat race = face

Bob Hope = soap

Boracic (freq. contracted to brassic) = boracic lint = skint (i.e. penniless)

Bottle = bottle and glass = arse (i. e. courage; Courage also happens to be the name of a brewery)

Brahms = Brahms and Liszt (classical composers) = pissed (i.e. drunk)

Brass Tacks = facts

Bread and Honey = money

Bricks and Mortar = daughter

Bristol = Bristol City = titty (i.e. breast)

Brown bread = dead

Bubble = Bubble & Squeak = Greek

Butcher's = butcher's hook = look

Chalfonts = Chalfont St Giles = piles (i.e. haemorrhoids)

Chalk Farm = arm

China = china plate = mate

Cobblers = cobblers' awls = balls or 'bollocks' (i.e. testicles , but usually meant in the sense of 'rubbish' as in "You're talking a load of cobblers")

Cock and Hen = ten

Creamed = cream crackered = knackered (i.e. exhausted or beaten)

Currant bun = sun or The Sun newspaper

Daisies = daisy roots = boots

Darby and Joan = moan

Dicky = dicky dirt = shirt

Dicky or Dickie = dickie bird = word = as in "not a dickie", or even "not a dickie bird"

Dog = dog and bone = phone

Duck and Dive = skive

Ducks and Geese = F--k-in' Police

Duke of Kent = rent

Dukes = Duke[s] of York = fork, i.e. hand, now chiefly when balled into a fist

Dustbin Lid = kid

Emmas = Emma Freud (English author and columnist) = haemorrhoids

Farmers = Farmer Giles = piles (slang for haemorrhoids )

Flowery Dell = ( prison ) cell

Flowery Dell = ( prison ) cell Frog = frog & toad = road

George Raft = draught

Ginger = ginger beer = queer

Gregory = Gregory Peck = neck, or cheque

Gypsy's = Gypsy's kiss = piss

Hampsteads = Hampstead Heath = teeth

Hampton Wick = prick (i.e. penis)

Half-inch = pinch (i.e. steal)

I suppose = nose

Jack = Jack Jones = alone ("On my Jack" = "On my own")

Jam jar = car

Jam tart = heart

J. Arthur = J. Arthur Rank (1930s UK flour magnate and film producer) = wank (i.e. masturbate)

Jimmy = Jimmy Riddle (unknown person, not the character killed during the Waco siege)= piddle or widdle (urinate)

Jugs = jugs of beer = ears

Khyber = Khyber Pass = arse

Kick and Prance = dance

Lady Godiva = fiver (i.e. five- pound note)

Lionels = Lionel Blairs (English variety performer) = flares (as in flared trousers)

Loaf = loaf of bread = head ("use your loaf")

Lucy Lockett = pocket

Mickey Bliss = piss (as in "take the Mickey" = "take the piss" = satirise)

Minces (or mincers) = mince pies = eyes

Mutton = Mutt and Jeff = deaf = named after Mutt and Jeff , two early 20th century comic strip characters

Nobbies = Nobby Stiles (English footballer) = piles (haemorrhoids)

North and South = mouth

Oily rag = fag (i.e. cigarette)

Ones and twos = shoes

Orchestras = orchestra stalls = balls (Orchestra stalls = part of a concert or other hall. Example = "A kick in the orchestras.") [Coincidentally, "orchi-" is also the Greek root meaning "testicle."]

Peckham Rye = tie (i.e. necktie)

Pen and Ink = stink

Pigs ears = big beers (large glasses of Ale )

Plaster = Plaster of Paris = Aris = Aristotle = bottle = bottle and glass = arse (a three-stage rhyme)

Plaster = Plaster of Paris = Aris = Aristotle = bottle = bottle and glass = arse (a three-stage rhyme) Plates = plates of meat = feet

Porky = pork pie = lie, e.g. "He's telling porkies!"

Pony = pony and trap = crap (note: Cockneys also use "pony" to mean £25 - hopefully the meaning is clear from the context)

Rabbit = rabbit and pork = talk

Raspberry = raspberry tart = fart (as in "blowing raspberry/ies" = making rasping noises with your mouth)

Richard = Richard the Third = turd (lump of faeces)

Richard = Dicky Bird = bird (slang for girl) but also Dicky Bird = word

Rosie = Rosie Lee = tea e.g. "Have a cup of Rosie"

Round the houses = trousers

Rub-a-dub-dub = pub = public house

Ruby = Ruby Murray (popular singer in the 1950s born in Belfast ) = curry

Salmon and Trout = snout

Scarper = Scapa Flow = go (as in "run for it!")

Septic = septic tank = Yank (slang for an American)

Sexton Blake = cake

Sherbet Dab = (taxi) cab

Skin = skin and blister = sister

Sky = sky rocket = pocket

sweaty = sweaty sock = jock = Scottish person

Syrup / sirrup = syrup of figs = wig(s)

Tea leaf = thief

The Sweeney = Sweeney Todd =Flying Squad , a special division of the Metropolitan Police ; used as the title of TV series The Sweeney

Taters = Potatoes in the mould = cold

Titfer = tit for tat = hat

Tod = Tod Sloane = own (as in "on your tod", meaning "alone")

Tom and Dick = sick

Tomfoolery = jewellery

Treacle = treacle tart = sweetheart

Trouble = trouble and strife = wife

Vera = Vera Lynn (famous British wartime singer)= 'skin' or cigarette paper, eg, "got any Veras?", or chin, or gin

Whistle = whistle and flute = suit = as in "a nice whistle"