Il Cockney English dei londinesi

London

Pubblicato in: Lingua Inglese

Il Cockney English dei londinesi

L'inglese parlato dai Londoners, il Cockney

Durante il XIX° secolo, la malavita a Londra sviluppò il proprio linguaggio segreto, spesso basato su uno slang rimato. Ecco alcune espressioni particolari:

Espressione
Significato
Note / Esempi

have a butchers	take a look	da butcher’s hook = look come in “take a butchers at that”
north and south	mouth
plates	feet	da plates of meat = feet come in “you’ve got big plates”
boat race	face	come in “nice legs, shame about the boat race”
skin and blister	sister
trouble	wife	da trouble and strife = wife come in “going home to the trouble”
dustbin lids	kids / children
whistle	suit	da whistle and flute = suit come in “do you like the whistle?”
Adam and Eve	believe	come in “would you Adam and Eve it?”
Rosie Lea	tea	come in “I’d love a cup of rosie”
Mutt and Jeff	deaf
oily rag	fag = cigarette	come in “I’m going for an oily”
jam jar	car
mince pies	eyes	come in “feast your mincers on this”
pen and ink	stink	come in “cor! what a pen and ink”
porky	lie	da pork pies = lies come in “he’s telling porkies”
Barnet	hair	da Barnet Fair = hair come in “he’s losing his Barnet”
Brahms	pissed (i.e. “drunk”)	da Brahms and Liszt = pissed
Gregories	glasses / spectacles	da Gregory Pecks = specs
Titfer	hat	da tit for tat = hat
apples and pears	stairs
Jimmy	urinate	da Jimmy Riddle = piddle
borassic	broke / skint	da borassic lint = skint come in “can’t go out, I’m borassic”
two and eight	state	come in “he’s in a bit of a two and eight”
Bertie Woofter	gay man	da Bertie Woofter = poofter
China	mate / friend	da China plate = mate come in “how are you, my old China”
Khyber	buttocks	da Khyber Pass = arse
rabbit and pork	talk	come in “Don’t rabbit so much”
tea leaf	thief
potato mould	cold	da in “it’s a bit taters in here”
dog and bone	phone	come in “you’re wanted on the dog and bone”
loaf	head	da loaf of bread = head come in “Use your loaf”
brown bread	dead
battle cruiser	boozer	boozer = pub = public house (a place to drink)
elbows and knees	trees
gold watch	Scotch	Scotch = whiskey
pride and Joy	boy	Take the pride and joy to the match
current bun	Sun	I’m going out to get a bit of current bun
dicky	shirt	da dicky dirt = shirt
pots and pans	hands
Peckham Rye	tie	dal nome di un posto di Londra
Hampstead Heath	teeth	dal nome di un posto di Londra
jugs	ears	da jugs of beers = ears
Errol Flynn	chin
almonds	socks	da almond rocks = socks
ones and twos rhythm and blues	shoes
daisies	boots	da daisy roots = boots
bird	prison	da bird lime = time as in “doing bird”