Rhyming Slang

Rhyming slang is thought to have originated in the East End of London around the middle of the 19th century. (Wikipedia cites one authority according to whom it started around Seven Dials, a major road junction in Covent Garden, in the West End.) Like most slang, its purpose was probably to allow those in the know (the working-class locals, in this case) to speak to each other without outsiders understanding.

The thing is though ... everyone understands it these days! So you could argue that it's not really slang any more. It's an entertainment that everyone can join in with - often using topical references to come up with new terms.

And as if to prove how ubiquitous and entertaining it is, rhyming slang comes up regularly in quizzes. I present here a mixed selection, of classics and more recent inventions. Please remember that this is not supposed to be a comprehensive list - it's just the ones that I've heard asked in quizzes, or that I think are likely to be asked.

I would point out that for the thing to work properly, you should only use the first part of the expression, leaving the "outsiders" (or the quiz contestants) to work the rest out for themselves. The technical term for this (according to Wikipedia, again - although I haven't been able to find this word in any dictionary) is "hemiteleia". In the tables below, the first part of the expression is given in the left hand column; the middle column gives the complete expression, and the right hand column is the answer. Both the middle and right hand columns are hidden by default, and you can reveal them using the buttons as normally.

If you're setting questions on this topic, don't forget that some terms have more than one meaning, and in some cases there is more than one term that mean the same thing. In such cases, the best solution is obviously to ask them the unambiguous way round.

Section 1: Certificate 'U'

The following expressions seem to me to be well-established (even if some of them aren't actually all that old) and suitable for use in quizzes.

Apples		Apples & pears		Stairs (see also Tables)
Army		Army & Navy		Gravy
Artful		Artful Dodger		Lodger
Ascots		Ascot races		Braces ("suspenders" in US English)
Ayrton		Ayrton Senna		Tenner (£10)
Bacons		Bacon & eggs		Legs
Baker's		Baker's dozen		Cousin
Bales		Bales of cotton		Rotten (see Note 1)
Ball		Ball o' chalk		Walk (see Note 2)
Bark		Bark & growl		Trowel
Barnaby		Barnaby Rudge		Judge
Barnet		Barnet Fair		Hair
Bird		Bird lime		Time (see Note 3)
Boat		Boat Race		Face
Boracic		Boracic lint		Skint (financially challenged) - see Note 4
Bottle		Bottle & glass		Class (see Note 5); see also Aris
Bowler		Bowler hat		Cat
Brahms		Brahms & List		Drunk
Brass		Brass tacks		Facts
Bread		Bread & honey		Money
Bricks		Bricks & mortar		Daughter
Britneys		Britney Spears		Beers
Brown		Brown bread		Dead
Bull		Bull & cow		Row
Butcher's		Butcher's hook		Look
Chalfonts		Chalfont St. Giles		Haemorrhoids
China		China plate		Mate
Cobblers		Cobblers' awls		Testicles, or nonsense
Crust		Crust of bread		Head
Currant		Currant bun		The Sun
Daisies		Daisy roots		Boots
Dicky		Dicky bird		Word
Dicky		Dicky Dirt		Shirt (see Note 6)
Dog		Dog and bone		Telephone
Duch(ess)		Duchess of Fife		Wife (see Note 7)
Dukes		Duke of York		Forks, i.e. hands (fists) (see Note 8)
Dustbin		Dustbin lid		Kid (child)
Elephant's		Elephant's trunk		Drunk
Farmers		Farmer Giles		Haemorrhoids
Frog		Frog and toad		Road
Gold		Gold watch		Scotch (whisky)
Gregory		Gregory Peck		Cheque, or neck
Hampsteads		Hampstead Heath		Teeth
Harry		Harry Wragg		Cigarette (see Note 9)
Hillman		Hillman Hunter		Punter (see Note 10)
Irish		Irish jig		Wig
Lionels		Lionel Blairs		Flares (flared trousers)
Loaf		Loaf of bread		Head
Mincers		Mince pies		Eyes
Mutton		Mutt and Jeff		Deaf
Needle		Needle & pin		Gin
North		North & south		Mouth
Oily		Oily rag		Cigarette
Peckham		Peckham Rye		Tie
Plates		Plates of meat		Feet
Porkies		Pork pies		Lies
Rabbit		Rabbit & pork		Talk
Roll		Roll & butter		Nutter (lunatic)
Rosy		Rosy Lee		Tea
Rubber		Rub-a-dub		Public house
Ruby		Ruby Murray		Curry
Scarper		Scapa Flow		Go
Scooby		Scooby Doo		Clue
Sexton		Sexton Blake		Fake
Skin		Skin & blister		Sister
Sweeney		Sweeney Todd		Flying Squad
Syrup		Syrup of fig(s)		Wig
Tables		Tables & chairs		Stairs (see also Apples)
Taters		Potatoes in the mould		Cold (see Note 11)
Tiddly		Tiddlywink		Drink (hence drunk)
Titfer		Tit for tat		Hat
Tod, on one's		Tod Sloan		Alone (see Note 12)
Tom		Tomfoolery		Jewellery (see also in Section 3)
Trouble		Trouble and strife		Wife
Turtles		Turtle doves		Gloves
Vera		Vera Lynn		Gin
Weasel		Weasel & stoat		Coat
Whistle		Whistle & flute		Suit

Note 1: this is cited by Wikipedia as one of the few uses of rhyming slang to disguise an adjective rather than a noun.

Note 2: this was apparently used by RAF personnel in World War II: a missing plane would be said to have "gone for a ball of chalk". (Rather like going for a Burton - but that wasn't rhyming slang; a Burton was simply a beer, Burton-on-Trent being a famous English brewing town.) Exactly what a ball of chalk was is unclear.

Note 3: "bird lime" is not, as some people think, a euphemism for bird droppings used as fertiliser (guano). It's any sticky substance that you spread on a branch or twig, to trap birds. Its use is illegal in places where they care about such things (which of course they should).

Note 4: boracic lint was a type of medical dressing, commonly used to treat leg ulcers in the 19th century. When used as rhyming slang, it's generally pronounced "brassic".

Note 5: this term was apparently first used in reference to boxers - as in "he's got a lot of bottle". This original meaning seems to have been lost over time however, as the phrase "to lose one's bottle" seems to refer to courage, pluck, or sheer audacity, rather than class.

Note 6: no one seems to know who Dicky Dirt was - if he ever existed!

Note 7: the first Duchess of Fife was Princess Louise (1867-1931), the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Louise and her husband Alexander Duff (the first Duke) had no male heirs, but Queen Victoria was able, by some arcane manipulation of protocol, to name their daughter Alexandra (1891-1959) as the second Duchess.

Note 8: the expression "put up your Dukes" (often pronounced "dooks" - particularly in America, where the expression is also used) has long been used as an invitation to fight. Apparently "fork" is a slang term for the hand or fingers - possibly originally a term for a pickpocket, or the act of picking someone's pocket, as in "Let's fork him". The term "to fork out" is said to use the same reference. So "Dukes" is a kind of double slang.

Note 9: Harry Wragg (1902–85) was a Yorkshire-born jockey, known as "the Head Waiter" due to his "come from behind" riding style. He rode over 1,700 winners between 1919 and 1946, including three Derbys and ten other English Classics, and was champion jockey in 1941. He went on to become a successful trainer.

Note 10: the Hillman Hunter was a popular family car, produced between 1966 and 1979.

Note 11: when potatoes are nearing their time for harvest, the earth is heaped up around them. This heap is called a mould.

Note 12: Tod Sloan (1874-1933) was another jockey - an American one, who predated Wragg. He rode many winners in Britain between 1898 and 1901, and introduced the American "monkey crouch", as the British called it, to Britain - the "forward seat" style of riding, using short stirrups and crouching over the horse's neck and withers. One of racing's first international celebrities, his career ended ignominiously amid accusations (probably exaggerated) of illegal gambling. He called his autobiography, published in 1915, Tod Sloan By Himself. He died of cirrhosis, aged 59.

Section 2: Certificate 'A'

The following are of doubtful provenance and/or authenticity, but I include them for their entertainment value.

Acker		Acker Bilk		Milk
Alans		Alan Whickers		Underpants (see Note 13)
Baden		Baden Powell		Trowel
Barney		Barney Rubble		Trouble (see Note 14)
Battle		Battle cruiser		Boozer (public house) (see Note 13)
Hank		Hank Marvin		Starving (see Note 15)
Lester		Lester Piggott		Bigot (see Note 16)
Moby		Moby Dick		Stick
Mork		Mork & Mindy		Windy
Tommy		Tommy Trinder		Window
Yorkshire		Yorkshire Ripper		Kipper
Yorkshires		Yorkshire Rippers		Slippers

Note 13: apparently these were both used in the 1998 Guy Ritchie film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. ("Don't get yer Alans in a twist!")

Note 14: this is an interesting one. The original use of the word "barney" to mean a fight or disturbance is obscure, but it was in common usage long before the Flintstones were created. In what Wikipedia cites as an example of "false etymology", a character in the 2001 remake of the film Ocean's Eleven claims that it is rhyming slang, as explained here. So ... if people are using it in the belief that it's rhyming slang, maybe it is now ...

Note 15: used in a television advert, c. 2014 - possibly made up for that purpose.

Note 16: without wishing to sound too patronising, one has to wonder how often a working-class East Ender might want to use the term "bigot". But as I've said, anyone can do it now ...

Section 3: Certificate 'X'

The following should be used (in quizzes, at least) with caution - if at all! My only excuse for including them here is that the rude ones are often the most fun, or the most interesting - and no list would be complete without them.

It could of course be argued, in their defence, that these expressions have their origin in a well-meaning effort to avoid using the offensive term itself. But the counter-argument would probably be to ask whether you need to refer to the thing at all!

In the interests of keeping this page as decent as possible, I've refrained from giving the actual rhyming answers in this section. But I trust that most of my readers will be able to work them out for themselves ...

Barclay's		Barclay's Bank		Self-abuse
Berk (rhymes with "work")		Berkshire Hunt		Stupid or unpleasant person
Brad		Brad Pitt		Bowel movement
Bristol(s)		Bristol Cities		Breasts
Bubble		Bubble & Squeak		Greek (person)
Charlie		Charlie Hunt		See Berk; see also Note 17
Creamed		Cream crackered		Exhausted
D'Oyly		D'Oyly Carte		Flatulence
Ginger		Ginger beer		Homosexual
Gypsy's		Gypsy's kiss		Urination
Hampton		Hampton Wick		Male member
Iron		Iron hoof		See Ginger
Jacobs		Jacob's (cream) crackers		Testicles (see Note 18)
J. Arthur		J. Arthur Rank		See Barclay's
Jimmy		Jimmy Riddle		See Gypsy's; see also Note 19
Jodrell		Jodrell Bank		See Barclay's
Khyber		Khyber Pass		Posterior
Merchant		Merchant banker		Onanist
Myleene		Myleene Klass		See Khyber
Orson		'orse & cart		See D'Oyly
Pony		Pony & trap		Bowel movement (or nonsense) (see Note 20)
Raspberry		Raspberry tart		See D'Oyly
Richard		Richard the Third		Stool, hence also a stupid or unpleasant person (see Note 21)
Septic		Septic tank		American citizen
Sweaty		Sweaty sock		Scottish person
Thrupp'nies		Thrupp'ny bits		See Bristols
Tom		Tom tit		See Brad - see also in Section 1

Note 17: as with Dickie Dirt, it's not clear who Charlie Hunt was - if he ever existed. (The only Charlie Hunt on Wikipedia is an American "gridiron" footballer, born in 1951; there is also a Charles Cooke Hunt (1833-61), who led four expeditions into the interior of Western Australia between 1864 and 1866.) But this explanation for the origin of the word Charlie, used in this sense, is authenticated by (among others) no less an authority than Collins Online Dictionary - which gives it a 20th-century origin.

Note 18: apparently used more than once by the comedian Joe Pasquale, while winning Series 4 of I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here! (2004).

Note 19: Jimmy Riddle (1918-82) was an American country singer and musician, best known for his appearances on the television show Hee Haw in the late 1960s and early 70s. He was an exponent of the traditional vocal art of eefing (an early form of what's known today as beatboxing).

Note 20: "a pony" can also mean a sum of £25 (for reasons that are obscure, but may or may not be related to the use of "a monkey" for £500, which is said to be because in British India the 500-rupee note depicted a monkey).

Note 21: less extreme than Berk or Charlie; but paradoxically more offensive today, probably, because (unlike with those two examples) most people will understand the reference.

The following example is unique among the terms listed on this page, in that it uses a double rhyme. The second one uses the same slang term as the one for "class" in Section 1 - but with a different (and less polite) meaning.

Aris

Aristotle

Bottle

Bottle & Glass

Posterior

Section 4: Uncertified

Finally ... these last few are clearly a sort of basic rhyming slang, but they don't seem to me to work in the same way that true rhyming slang does - they don't really lend themselves to hemiteleia. With these, I think you would normally use the whole expression.

This makes them a lot less cryptic than proper rhyming slang, and in a similar way it makes them a bit too easy (or too vague) for use in quizzes. But anyway, for completeness ...

Adam & Eve (as in "Would you Adam & Eve it?!")		Believe
Giraffe (as in "You're 'avin' a giraffe!")		Laugh
Greengages		Wages
Half-inch		Pinch (steal)
Holy Ghost		Toast
Jam jar		Car
Joanna		Piano
Lady Godiva		Fiver (£5 note)
Loop the loop		Soup
Lord Lovell		Shovel
Mickey Mouser		Scouser (Liverpudlian)
Pen & ink		Stink
Pete Tong (as in "It's all gone Pete Tong")		Wrong
Sky rocket		Pocket
Tea leaf		Thief
Two and eight (as in "a right old two and eight" – presumably meaning 2s 8d, or approximately 13p)		State
Uncle Dick		Sick

© Haydn Thompson 2017