13 Aug Learn Cockney Rhyming Slang
What is cockney rhyming slang?
Cockney rhyming slang is a feature of British English where people use a pair of words to replace a common word. The second word in the pair rhymes with the word they mean. For example, “apples and pears” refers to “stairs” because “pears” rhymes with “stairs”. People usually omit the second part when using cockney rhyming slang. For example, someone speaking in cockney rhyming slang would probably say “I’m going up the apples” to mean “I’m going up the stairs”.
Cockney rhyming slang comes from the East end of London. It originated in the 19th century and it is possible that it was invented as a linguistic game or to deliberately deceive outsiders.
How can you learn more about British pronunciation?
Understanding British English goes far beyond understanding cockney rhyming slang. To fully understand British English, it’s important to know its sounds and speech patterns. The best way to learn English pronunciation is to take English pronunciation courses and purchase English phonology books that go through each aspect of English pronunciation in detail, with practical exercises.
Five key cockney rhyming slang expressions and their meanings
In this blog post, we’ll give you five of the most commonly used cockney rhyming slang expressions and their meanings so that you can use cockney rhyming slang to make your English sound more British. We’ll also pronounce them for you so that you can say them correctly every time. These expressions are used quite frequently in British English so it’s very useful to learn them. It’s also very interesting to know where these cockney rhyming slang expressions originated from.
1. Blowing a raspberry in cockney rhyming slang
Raspberry tart… This rhymes with fart! Blowing a raspberry is toilet humour. It means making a rude-sounding noise with your mouth. It involves sticking your tongue out, trapping it between your lips and blowing to make a naughty noise.
/ˌbləʊɪŋ ə ˈrɑːzbᵊri/
2. Let’s have a butcher’s – a slang rhyme
Have a look… butcher’s hook. The expression “let’s have a butcher’s” means “let’s have a look”.
/lets hæv ə ˈbʊʧəz/
3. Telling porkies… in a cockney accent
Porkie pies… Lies… If you’re “telling porkies” it means that you’re telling lies. You’re fibbing. You’re not telling the truth.
/ˌtelɪŋ ˈpɔːkiz/
4. Me ol’ China…
Mate… China plate… If someone calls you “me old China”, they are calling you “mate”. It’s a friendly expression that means “friend”.
/mi əʊld ˈʧaɪnə/
5. Don’t be a grass…
Grasshopper… copper… police officer… “Don’t be a grass” means “don’t tell on me”. In other words, don’t report me to the police / my parents / the teacher…
/dəʊnt biː ə ˈɡrɑːs/
I hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration of cockney rhyming slang. Let me know if you hear this in your daily life or if you start using these expressions yourself by emailing me katie@britishaccentacademy.com
Enjoy these new techniques and discover how impressed your colleagues will be with your native-like pronunciation when you’ve completed the training (which comes with LIVE Zoom workshops).