Cockney Rhyming Slang

Love or hate the English, you can’t deny they have given the world many things. Whether it’s football, the law of gravity, penicillin, The Rolling Stones or Fish ‘n Chips, we have a lot to be thankful to the English for.

One thing they didn’t invent, however, was the English language. The English language is a hybrid of German and French (Latin), and you can throw quite a few other bits of different languages into the mix and we have the world’s most in-demand language.

Then in the 1840s the English invented the Cockney Rhyming Slang .

Cockney Rhyming Slang was invented by market traders, costermongers and street hawkers as a way of disguising what was being said. In today’s world, everybody speaks a bit of slang from time to time, but cockney slang is different.

To use the rhyming slang you take an expression that rhymes with a word and you replace that word with the expression.

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Eg. ‘apples and pears’ means ‘stairs’ and in a sentence I might say, “I’ve only gone and left my jacket up the apples and pears.”

This might sound strange but it’s used not only in London, but across the country. Everybody uses the rhyming slang. So in this series of posts, I want to introduce you to some of the more popular ones, and give you example sentences so you can start to use them.

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Here's 3 examples of the Cockney Rhyming Slang:

1. ‘Trouble and strife’ means ‘wife’.
   I can’t go for any more drinks the trouble and strife will go mad.
   The trouble and strife is on her way, I’d better get ready.

2. ‘Fat Boy Slim’ means ‘gym’
   I’m gonna join the Fat Boy slim in January, I need to get in shape.
   I’ll see you at the Fat Boy slim, later.

3. ‘Butcher’s hook’ means ‘look’
   Will you have a butcher’s hook please? I can’t do it.
   Hi Jim, my car’s broken down, will you take a butchers, for me?*

*Notice in the second eg. that ‘hook’ was omitted. That’s because the really popular ones are so well known, most people don’t have to say the full rhyming slang. Slang on slang.

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Anyway, I hope you enjoyed having a butchers at this. I better go now as I need to goto the Fat Boy Slim before taking the trouble and strife out for her birthday meal.