Some examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang......and what they mean!

 

In London you will often hear a number of these expressions in conversation, but they're quite often said so quickly and spontaneously that people who do not understand Cockney hardly hear them at all!

 

Even worse, the original phrase like apples & pears may mean stairs, but the phrases are often used without the end of the phrase, or the last word.

 

For example: I'm going up the apples and pears means I'm going up the stairs, but it may also be said as I'm going up the apples. In this case the listener has to know (or guess) the rest of the rhyming phrase before understanding it - which is very difficult for non-cockney English people, and almost impossible for overseas students unless very advanced indeed!

 

Other examples: I'm on the dog means I'm on the dog and bone - I'm on the phone. I've been on my plates all day! Plates = plates of meat = feet.

 

Try this one (simplified!): Would you Adam and Eve it? My Artful Dodger owes me some bees and honey and 'e's been telling me porkies, but I want the bangers and mash now or he'll be brown bread!    *Click to see the answer!

 

However, many of the original expressions have now become an accepted part of the English Language. Originally the phrase a butcher's hook (a look), abbreviated to a butcher's, is now in general use in English. Also chew the fat (have a chat) is used widely, and so is use your loaf (use your loaf of bread = your head).

 

Here is a list of present Cockney expressions, but of course there are plenty more!

 

Expression  -  meaning

Adam and Eve   -   believe

all night rave  -   shave

apples and pears   -   stairs

Artful Dodger (Dickens' "Oliver Twist")   -    lodger (anyone paying rent)

bacon and eggs   -   legs

bangers and mash   -   cash

Barnaby Rudge   -   judge

ball of fat - cat

bees and honey   -   money

bird (lime)   -   time ("doing bird" means doing time in prison)

Brahms & Liszt   -   pissed (a common vulgar way of saying someone is drunk)

brass tacks   -   facts

bread & honey   -   money

bricks & mortar   -   daughter

Britney (Spears)    -   beers

brown bread   -   dead

butcher's hook  -   look

Cain an' Abel   -   table

cat an' mouse   -   house

canary   -   fairy  (gay, male homosexual)

china (plate)   -    mate

darling daughter   -   water

dicky bird   -   word (quite often used by non-cockneys)

dinky doos   -   shoes

Donald Duck   -   f * * k (having sex)

dustbin lids   -   kids (children)

Everton toffee   -   coffee

fiddle de dee   -   pee (urinate)

fish n' chips   -   tips

four-by-two   -   jew

fourth of July  -  tie

frog an' toad   -   road

grasshopper  -   shopper (shop someone also means to inform the police about a criminal)

ginger ale   -   jail

Gregory Peck   -   cheque

half inch   -   pinch (pinch is another word for "steal")

hey diddle diddle   -   middle or fiddle (fiddle can mean to cheat with money)

how-do-you-do  -   shoe (how-do-you-dos  -   shoes)

Joanna   -   piano (cockneys say "piana" rather than "piano", so Joanna rhymes!)

Jimmy Riddle   -   piddle (piss, urinate)

kippers   -   slippers

kitchen sink   -   drink

Lady Godiva   -   fiver (a five pound note)

loaf of bread   -   head (commonly used in English "Use your loaf!")

mince pies   -   eyes

(Old) Bill   -   the police

Oxford scholar   -   dollar

plates of meat   -   feet

plink plonk   -   plonk (commonly used in English as the word for cheap wine)

pork pies (or porky pies)   -   lies

rabbit and pork   -   talk (the word "rabbit" is used in English meaning "talk" or "talk too much")

raspberry tart   -   fart (make a "rude" noise)

Roman candles   -   sandals

Rosie Lee   -   tea   (sometimes flea)

Ruby Murray (a 1950's singer)   -   curry

rub-a-dub-dub   -   pub (the word "pub" is an abbreviation of "public house")

septic tank   -   yank (British people's name for all U.S. Americans)

sky rocket   -   pocket

Sweeney Todd (a murderous barber in old London)   -   The Flying Squad (the police)

tea leaf   -   thief

tea leafing  -   thieving (stealing)

tiddlywink   -   drink

Tom & Dick   -   sick

trouble & strife   -   wife

Uncle Ned   -   bed

Vera Lynn (a famous singer from World War II)   -    gin

 

*Answer:

Would you believe it? My lodger (Artful Dodger - a character in Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens) owes me some money (bees and honey), and he’s been telling me lies (pork pies, or porkies), but I want the cash (bangers and mash = sausages and mashed potatoes) now or he’ll be dead (brown bread).