Rhyming slang

Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language that uses rhyme. It is especially prevalent in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It started in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhyming slang. In America, it is used in the underworld, where it is known as Australian slang.

The construction of rhyming slang involves replacing a common word with a phrase of two or more words, the last of which rhymes with the original word; then, in almost all cases, omitting, from the end of the phrase, the secondary rhyming word (which is thereafter implied), making the origin and meaning of the phrase elusive to listeners not in the know.

The form that is followed is made clear with the following example. The rhyming phrase "apples and pears" evolved to mean "stairs". Following the pattern of omission, "and pears" is dropped, thus the spoken phrase "I'm going up the apples" means "I'm going up the stairs".

The following are further common examples of these phrases:

Thus a construction of the following type could conceivably arise: "It nearly knocked me off me plates—he was wearing a syrup! So I ran up the apples, got straight on the dog to me trouble and said I couldn't believe me mincers."

In some examples the meaning is further obscured by adding a second iteration of rhyme and truncation to the original rhymed phrase. For example, the word "Aris" is often used to indicate the buttocks. This is the result of a double rhyme, starting with the original rough synonym "arse", which is rhymed with "bottle and glass", leading to "bottle". "Bottle" was then rhymed with "Aristotle" and truncated to "Aris".

Ghil'ad Zuckermann, a linguist and revivalist, has proposes a distinction between rhyming slang based on sound only, and phono-semantic rhyming slang, which includes a semantic link between the slang and its referent. An example of rhyming slang based only on sound is the Cockney "tea leaf" (thief). An example of phono-semantic rhyming slang is the Cockney "sorrowful tale" (three months in jail). because the person coining the term sees a semantic link, sometimes jocular, between the Cockney expression and its referent.

The use of rhyming slang has spread beyond the purely dialectal and some examples are to be found in the mainstream British English lexicon and internationally, although many users may be unaware of the origin of those words.

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