The phrase “cockney rhyming slang” isn’t a common one. However, you are
probably more familiar with it than you think!
Cockney rhyming slang originated around the area of Bow Bells in the East End
of London in the UK. When people say “cockney” in Britain, it refers to that
place. Cockney rhyming slang is believed to have come from both soldiers and
seamen who worked on or around the London docks in the 16th century.
There are also stories that it originated in prisons so inmates could speak to
each other so the guards didn’t understand what they were talking about. It was
also commonly spoken by people without a diploma.
Cockney rhyming slang terms are saying that arise when someone takes a common
word and then replaces that common word with an abbreviated version of a
well-known phrase. That phrase typically rhymes with the word that it
replaces.
For instance the word “legs” rhymes with “Scotch eggs,” so the cockney word
will be “scotches.” Another example would be “eyes” rhyming with “mince pies”
which then becomes “minces.”
It’s actually easier to explain when sentence is put together and then
explained in the proper context as context is extremely important when using
cockney rhyming slang. Lots of words have multiple meanings so you have to know
the context of how they’re used. If you are not only using a word with multiple
meanings, you’re using that word in a slang sentence so it can get very
confusing quickly.
Let’s start with this sentence: “Got to my mickey, found me way up the
apples, put on me whistle and the bloody dog went. It was me trouble telling me
to fetch the teapots.” It probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it?
Well, that’s the cockney rhyming slang phrase for this actual sentence: “Got to
my house, found my way up the stairs, put on my suit when the phone rang. It was
my wife telling me to get the kids.”
How could that possibly match up? Well, it breaks down like this: the word
“house” rhymes with “Mickey Mouse.” The first word, “Mickey,” then replaces
“house.” The word “stairs” rhymes with “apples and pears” so “apples” replaces
“stairs.” “Suit” rhymes with “whistle and flute” so “whistle” replaces “flute.”
“Phone” rhymes with “dog and bone” so “dog” replaces “phone.” “Wife” rhymes with
“trouble and strife” so “trouble” replaces “wife.” And “kids” rhymes with
“teapot lids” so “teapot” replaces “kids.”
To speak cockney rhyming slang, you take a word you want to use. You think of
a common, well-known, two-word phrase that has a word that rhymes with the word.
And then, you take the word in the phrase that does not rhyme with the
original word and replace the original word with it! Below is a list of examples
as well as some information: