Back Slang

Butchering the Language

An unusual kind of slang, known as back slang, evolved in England. One of the places it flourished was in butcher shops, where it allowed the butcher to order his assistant to bring out the old piece of meat for this customer. A word was coded by writing it backwards and trying to make a sensible pronounciation, although certain sounds like "th" didn't actually get reversed, and extra vowels were inserted as necessary. In some cases, syllables were added or dropped, vowel sounds modified, or a single letter, such as "h", became pronounced.

Backslang showed up several times, complete with subtitles, in the Australian movie "The Hard Word", starring Guy Pearce as one of a trio of bankrobbers. He is the son of a butcher, and one of his mates is a butcher. Several brief backslang interchanges occur during the movie, involving "yenom" and "dratsabs".

In France, there is a similar slang, called Verlan, commonly used by immigrants. In this language, the reversal often takes place at the level of syllables, rather than letters. The greeting Bonjour, ca va?" becomes Jourbon, ca av?, and a cafe becomes a feca.