Cockney Rhyming Slang – Use your Watch and Chain and Take our Quiz

Cockney rhyming slang is essential insider information for all Londonologists. Use your watch and chain and see if you can pass our quiz.

What is Cockney Rhyming Slang?

This “secret language” was devised by canny East End market traders in the 1840s who were probably wanting to have a conversation away from nosy police men (coppers). It’s a bit like today where tourists, and second generation Londoners, revert to speaking their mother tongue on the tube in the hope that you haven’t got a clue what they are saying…and you can be sure that they are saying something scathing about your clothes or makeup.

Who are the Cockneys?

A true Cockney is anyone who is born within the sound of St Mary Le Bow Church in  Cheapside.  However, in the 1960s many people who were living in the East End of London were relocated to parts of Essex…so you may hear this accent in some of the outer London boroughs.

How Does the Rhyming Work?

Cockney rhyming slang is probably easiest to explain with an example. If you hear someone talking about going up the apples and pears, they mean that they are going up the stairs as stairs rhymes with pears.

There are a lot of fruit examples as the original users were mainly costermongers (fruit and vegetable stall sellers).

If someone is telling porky pies they are telling lies.

In some cases the rhyming word is omitted from the expression. So if someone is having a look, it may be referred to as a butcher’s, as look rhymes with butcher’s hook.

Not all rhyming slang is a simple rhyme. You may hear someone saying that you are having a giraffe meaning that you are having a laugh.

Learn More About Cockney Rhyming Slang

You can find out more about London’s famous secret language on the Cockney Rhyming Slang website. This site has an awesome Cockney Lorem Ipsum (placeholder text) generator as well as a blog and a Cockney Translator.

The Guardian has, helpfully, provided not only a list of the most common Cockney rhyming slang examples but examined the social implications of the phrases e.g the slang for Army and Navy is gravy because gravy was commonly eaten at mealtimes.

As you are interested in London history, you may want to know why all our cultural icons e.g. buses and mail boxes are red.

Test Your Understanding of  Cockney Rhyming Slang

Here at Londonology, we have devised a clever little quiz for you to test your understanding of Cockney rhyming slang. In truth, we would be amazed if you didn’t get full marks but you never know!

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