In the recent “Nick Name” thread GaryCrosby posted a link to http://www.londonslang.com
where I found:
WHISTLE AND FLUTE - Rhyming Slang for suit. e.g. “Be sure to wear a whistle if your coming to the wedding”.
Dead right Pixxy, I heard it a lot as a kid. In Sydney (where London rhyming slang transferred 100-200 years ago) it’s a “bag of fruit”, so you where a bag in Sydney, not a whistle!
Isn’t the rhyming slang referred to as ‘Cockney’ in England?
Quite right my sahn.
I took the ol’ trouble an’ strife down the frog an’ toad for a Ruby Murray. I wore my best whistle!
The term for Skint (broke) is usually pronounced brassick, not borasic, and I’m not sure I agree with their definition of beaver.
If you want some really disgustingly vivid but funny euphemisms, try:
http://www.viz.co.uk/profanisaurus/profanis.htm
And I hereby warn you all, these are utterly profane, and should not be read by juniors, the aged and infirm, pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers, anyone while eating drinking or whistling, or pretty much anyone of a nervous or religious temperament. This means YOU. You have been warned.
[ This Message was edited by: Martin Milner on 2002-10-15 10:29 ]
Thanks for the warning, I fit into several of those categories so I’ll pass on the website… but I do wonder about rhyming slang. I only ever heard of it while watching “No, Honestly” reruns and couldn’t make heads or tails of it. I just had to disregard it, in the way you have to just skim over the portions of some books where the characters speak French but the author doesn’t translate. It’s like they assume everyone speaks French because everyone they know does. I assume it is similar with rhyming slang, like any other slang, you learn it, not figure it out. But for some time I thought the girl on that show was saying something I should be able to understand. Heck, where I come from, you just say it the way it is. You have to keep it simple for anyone to be able to understand what you’re saying, anyway.
Cockney rhyming slang
Talking trash but sounds polite
quintessential Brit
I say that with affection, 'cause my dear Grandad was a Cockney; drove lorries in the East End for much of his life…of course, I learnt none of the really useful slang from him (nor from my mother, who was born in the vicinity of Wimbledon–which fact she feels, for some reason, entitles her to put on airs; if she hears earthy expressions she ignores them, or gives the speaker The Look). These are certainly, ummmm, interesting links…some of the more obscurely profane euphemisms might come in handy here in the Bible belt. Cheers!