Would you 'Adam and Eve' it!

  • Published
  • By British Billy
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  "Oi mate! Grab your weasel and titfer and let's go out for a Ruby. And don't you get Uncle Dick this time. What a pen and ink!" 

If you watch any London-based British TV programmes such as 'Eastenders' or 'Only Fools and Horses', this may not sound like total gibberish. It is an example of the use of Cockney rhyming slang, in which phrases are derived from taking an expression which rhymes with a word and then using that expression instead of the word. If that's left your whiskers in a tangle, let me translate my first sentence.

'Weasel' is short for 'weasel and stoat' which rhymes with 'coat'; 'titfer' is shortened from 'tit for tat', so that's 'hat', and Ruby is from the name 'Ruby Murray' and that's 'curry'. Getting it? So then, 'Uncle Dick' means 'sick' and 'pen and ink' is 'stink''. Ham 'n' Cheesy!   

'Cockney' is the term used to describe any person said to be born within the sound of London's Bow Bells - the bells of St. Mary-Le-Bow ("Bow Church") - in Cheapside, London 

Experienced cats such as myself skillfully use our perky Britneys (Britney Spears - ears) and are finely tuned to the nuances of the human tongue. As most of you never learned to use yours to groom yourselves, then I suppose you had to do the next best thing and communicate. 

Sprinkling your conversation with a little Cockney rhyming slang (or 'Rabbit' from 'rabbit and pork' - talk), will make you sound like a regular Dick van Dyke, if you can recall his performance as Bert, the Cockney chimney sweep in that childhood favourite 'Mary Poppins'. Its usage will make you an instant hit amongst the locals. 

For a small country, Britain is packed to the rafters with wonderful regional dialects. As well as English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh accents, you will encounter variations within them, such as Scouse from Liverpool, Geordie from Newcastle, Brummie from Birmingham, and Cockney from the East End of London, to name just a few. 

I would encourage you to immerse yourself in the linquistic culture of this fine nation. 
Entertain your co-workers and neighbours with your newly-found skills. 

A fishy cat treat for those of you who can guess the meaning of the following: 

-- What a lovely pair of mince pies!
-- He's me old China!
-- It's all gone Pete Tong!
-- She's in a right old Two and Eight!