Talk:Rhyming slang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
WikiProject English Language (Rated C-class, Mid-importance)
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject English Language, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles related to the English language on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
C-Class article C  This article has been rated as C-Class on the quality scale.
 Mid  This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the importance scale.
 
WikiProject London (Rated C-class, High-importance)
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject London, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of London on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
C-Class article C  This article has been rated as C-Class on the project's quality scale.
 High  This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.
 
WikiProject Linguistics (Rated C-class, Low-importance)
WikiProject iconThis article is within the scope of WikiProject Linguistics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of linguistics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
C-Class article C  This article has been rated as C-Class on the project's quality scale.
 Low  This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
 

Berk and loaf[edit]

I see nobody's included the famous "berk", or is that too near the knuckle? Neither is using one's "loaf" in the list, or is that too twee? Dieter Simon

Probably no-one thought of them- stick 'em in :-) quercus robur 23:40 Jan 7, 2003 (UTC)

You can add "snake's hiss, piss" if you want.

ok should that list of CRS be moved to wiktionary, or is it ok here? -fonzy

TfD nomination of Template:User CRS-4[edit]

Template:User CRS-4 has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at Wikipedia:Templates for deletion#Template:user crs-4. Thank you.

But honestly though, how about some modern examples?[edit]

I see the last time someone tried to raise this issue it got into a very silly argument. The point is rhyming slang is alive and well - every Brit likes a cup of Rosie, not to mention a Ruby Murray. So how about some modern examples? Or is this all written for septics?

I agree. I think we should have the terms: rabbit, bristols, septic, cobblers, porkies, butchers, and jack jones. just my opinion.

I'm not a fan of modern examples, because firstly we don't preserve the old stuff well enough, then in the Seventies we got some comic additions, which was probably acceptable, but now anyone can make up anything, usually with the desire to be clever or pretentious. E.g. we had farmers, then Chalfonts (from The Two Ronnies?), and now we have Emma Freuds, as though anyone knows or cares who she is. There was never anything wrong with farmers. I wish people wouldn't use the full expression either. It's cobblers, not cobblers' awls, so why Emma Freuds? Emmas isn't going to work though, is it! Forsyte Saga, Lager, anyone? I don't think so!

Casting the net a bit wide?[edit]

We've cut down on the examples of commonly used CRS and are insetead getting general UK or CRS painted as local to other regions

  • "arse, the Scots word for buttocks" Arse = UK word for, um, arse.
  • In Republic Of Ireland "Brown bread =>dead" Certainly London/CRS if not near universal.

Rich Farmbrough, 10:23 12 September 2006 (GMT).

Brass[edit]

Always thought brass was 'brass door - whore' not what is cited in this page

"Raspberry" used in the US[edit]

Anybody willing to find a source that mentions "blow a raspberry"'s use in the United States? That statement comes from an American. BlueCaper (talk), 18 December 2012 (UTC) 02:08

April[edit]

In Only Fools & Horses Del Boy often refers to his bottom as his April but I've never understood what the background of this rhyming slang is can anyone help? Penrithguy (talk) 09:35, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

April in Paris, aris, Aristotle, bottle, bottle and glass, arse. Mutt Lunker (talk) 10:32, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

Barney[edit]

Barnaby bright, Barnaby bright, longest day and shortest night. Thus our ancestors would sing on 11th June, St Barnabas' Day. Longest day? Well, at that time it was the longest day. Until we had changed from the Gregorian to the Julian calendar in 1752. [1][2]. Barnaby Bright, hence fight.--JeremyCorney (talk) 01:04, 6 May 2020 (UTC)

Suggesting additional section[edit]

Seems to me there are several elements not discussed in this article that should be. They are all centered on the understanding of this slang, i.e. Communication.

Specifically that it requires the speaker and the hearer to share a common background and/or experience to be understood. Slang based on place-names or local celebrities will only make sense to those that share these things. The wider the cultural inclusion the great the possibility of understanding. Someone from East End can easily create a slang that someone from Shropshire would never understand and vice versa. Either of them could create mutually understandable slang, however, if they shared a common bound, e.g. military service. So the common bond becomes the focal point of the slang, indeed it is a requirement. Interesting to note that rhyming slang has a unique feature of carrying the key to break the code within the slang itself but only in so far as the speaker and listener share a common bond. This is unlike other slang origins.

The slang also depends on a sharing common accent. Very localized accents can impart an "encoding" that becomes difficult if not impossible to crack. How we pronounce words is almost as important as the word itself when trying to decode the slang. This was touched on in the article concerning the rhyming of cross and horse.

The point being that this would make an excellent topic to explore in this article within the context of communication. And communication, or restriction of communication, is a fundamental purpose in slang.

Do you see other branches of this that could expand this topic? Cwoliver55 (talk) 20:15, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

That all seems perfectly valid. But unless you have some good sources which discuss and develop these ideas, it would just be your own WP:OR. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:04, 6 February 2020 (UTC)
  1. ^ Nebuchadnezzar's Marmalade Pot - Adrian Leak 2017
  2. ^ Barnaby Bright's New Journal (vulgarly Called an Almanack) for Leap-year, 1756. Calculated for the Meridian of Jenny's Whim, and Will Serve for the Island of Great Britain in General. Being the First of the Kind Ever Published in the Terrestrial World. Together with the New Register, Commonly Called Jenny's Whim, and Sundry Useful and Delightful Matters - S. Crowder and H. Woodgate, in Pater-Noster Row, 1756
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Rhyming_slang&oldid=955111400"