A Dictionary of

A Dictionary of Cockney Rhyming Slang

A Watchya.com Publication
www.watchya.com
Copyright ©2009 Duncan Wherrett. All rights reserved.
 Cockney Rhyming Slang

�e term ‘cockney’ originally meant someone who was

born within the sound of the Bow Bells of St. Mary-le-Bow
Church in Cheapside, London. In those days, all of the
City of London would have been within that sound.
�ese days, very few people would be born within the
sound of Bow Bells. �e area is largely lled with banks,
nancial institutions and offices.

Rhyming slang always involves two words or a small phrase.

�e last word of the pair or phrase will rhyme with the
target word. So apples and pears will mean stairs;
linen draper will mean paper.

In conversation, only the rst word of the phrase will be

used: “I’m just going up the apples” or
“�ere’s not a sausage le�”.

�e meaning of the phrase is unlikely to have any

relationship with the meaning of the target word – it’s the
rhyme that’s important.
At times, there can be a connection via humour, such as
Mae West for chest or trick cyclist for psychiatrist.

Some rhyming slang words are used in everyday language

without people realising their origin, such as Use your loaf.
Words like ‘raspberry’ and ‘Berk’ are also used everyday
in polite society without most people realising where they
come from.

3
Rhyming slang started developing from around the late
18th century and the early 19th century.

�ere seems to be no denitive reason as to why it started,

but the most popular theories are:
1. It was developed as good-humoured joking by
Cockneys so that outsiders, such as the gangs of Irish
navvies working on canal and railway construction,
could not undestand them.
2. It was started by thieves and criminals to communicate
in public without being understood by outsiders.
3. An oppressed minority developing a secret language as a
defence measure to give them a bit more inner strength.

In due course, rhyming slang has come from other sources.

From Ireland comes such words as:
Rory O’More door
cowhide wide; i.e. aware of
Glasgow boat coat
chocolate trie rie

Australia and, to a lesser extent, America have proved to be

good sources of their own rhymes:
Steel Rudds spuds – potatoes
giddy goat tote – totalizer
mad mick pick
lean and fat hat

From Glasgow there is

deaf bully beef
Allowing for the Sco�ish accent

4
�ere are a few rare examples of the last word in the
rhyming phrase being spoken rather than the rst word,
such as ‘tart’ in Jam tart for sweetheart, although now it
tends to carry a negative connotation.
Another is coffee and cocoa for Say so (I should cocoa)

�e origins of the rhyming phrases are many and varied

Most come from everyday words and expressions, such as
currant bun, ne and dandy, and Oxo cube.

Other sources are:

• Music hall performers:
Gertie Lee, Kate Karney
• Famous characters within London circles or
world-wide:
Charles James Fox, Harry Nash, Dr. Crippen
• Places, particulary around London:
Hampstead Heath, Albert Hall, Barnet Fair,
Robinson and Cleaver (a former London store)
• Barnaby Rudge for judge might be from the Dickens
character or from the late l8th. century dance, the
Barnaby.
Bubble and squeak for beak comes from the dish of
fried cabbage and potatoes.

5
6
 Contents

Cockney – English 9 – 46

English – Cockney 49 – 81

7
Abergavenny penny
Adam and Eve believe
Would you Adam and Eve it?
to leave
To make a hurried departure
airs and graces faces
Epsom races
braces
Albert Hall wall
alderman’s eyes ies – house-ies
alderman’s nail tail – particularly a dog’s
all aoat coat
See I’m aoat
alligator later
almond rocks socks
Me almonds are wet
See peppermint rocks
Alphonse ponce
Andy Cain rain
Andy MacNish sh – generally fried sh
Anna Maria re – a domestic hearth
’apenny dip ship
apples and pears stairs
apples and rice nice
apple fri�er bi�er – beer
apple pie sky
apple pips lips

9
April fools tools
stools – esp. in public houses
pools – football pools
April showers owers
Aristotle bo�le
Generally reduced to Arry
army and navy gravy
army rocks socks
artful dodger lodger
Auntie Ella umbrella
Auntie Nellie belly – mainly with reference to
indigestion
Aunt Maria re
See Anna Maria

babbling brook cook

Usually reduced to babbler
crook
baby’s cries eyes
See mince pies
bacon and eggs legs
A nice pair of bacons
ball of chalk walk
Take a ball of chalk – to dismiss
someone
balloon car saloon bar

10
band in the box pox
band of hope soap – From the name of the
Temperance Mission
Barnaby Rudge judge
Barnet Fair hair
Barney Moke poke – pocket
bat and wicket ticket
bath-bun son
sun
See currant-bun, penny-bun
ba�le-cruiser boozer – public house
bazaar bar – of a public house
bear’s paw saw – the tool
Beecham’s pi1l(s) hill(s)
bill(s) – referring to the notice
displayed by a beggar
still – photograph
Beecham’s pills testicles – Pronounced testi-kills
Don’t talk pills – stupidity
beef and ham pram
beef-hearts farts
beans
�e double meaning with beans
associated with wind
bees and honey Money
I ain’t got any bees le�
See pot of honey

11
beggar my neighbour on the Labour (Exchange)
i.e. on the dole
bell ringers ngers
Benny Hill till
Berk fool
‘Berk’ is short for ‘Berkshire Hunt’,
meaning cunt, as in fool
Be�y Lee tea
See Rosy Lea
Big Ben ten – £l0
Billy Prescot waistcoat
See Charlie Prescot
bird lime time – time of day or prison
sentence
biscuits and cheese knees
bits and bats knick-knacks – specically
assorted jewellery
blackbird and thrush brush – especially shoes
See song of the thrush
bladder of fat hat
bladder of lard playing card
blue ruin gin
See Brian O’Linn, mother’s ruin
boat race face
Bob Squash wash – the washing section of
a public convenience
Working the Bob is picking
pockets from hanging coats

12
Bonnie Dundee ea
bo-peep sleep
boracic lint skint – penniless
See pink lint
bo�le and glass arse
On the bo�le – male prostitution
bo�le of beer ear
bo�le of zz whizz – to steal
bow and arrow sparrow
Brahms and Liszt pissed
brass tacks facts – details
A rare case of the whole phrase
being used
bread and bu�er gu�er
bread and cheese sneeze
bread and lard hard – as in lack of sympathy
Ain’t that bread and lard?
Brian O’Linn gin
Usually reduced to Brian or Bri
Brighton sands hands
Bristol Cities ti�ies
A nice pair of Bristols
Britney Spears ears
beers
Brussels sprout boy scout
a tout – a bookmaker’s agent or
a racing commentator
clout

13
bubble and squeak beak – the magistrate
speak – inform
bucket and pail jail
bull and cow row – noise
bullock’s horn pawn
bully beef chief – the chief warden
bung it in gin
burnt cinder window – pronounced winder
A stiff burnt – a plate-glass
window
Burton on Trent rent
bushel and peck neck – specically the throat
Get this do your bushel
See half a peck
bushel o’coke bloke – a man
See heap of coke
Bushey Park lark – joke
butcher’s hook look
Have a butcher’s at this

cab rank bank

Cain and Abel table
Cambridge punt cunt
See Berkshire Hunt, Joe Hunt
Camden Town brown – copper coin
See Kentish Town

14
canal boat tote
can of oil boil – swelling
Usually reduced to canov
Cape of Good Hope soap
See Charlie Pope
Captain Cook(s) book(s) – library
be�ing book
careless talk piece of chalk – in darts
car park nark – police informer
carpet bag drag – three months
imprisonment
carving knife wife
cash and carry marry
cat and mouse house
ca�le truck fuck
He’s ca�led – ruined
She needs a good ca�ling
Chalk Farm arm
Charing Cross horse – rhyming with -aws
Charles James Fox box – in the theatre
Charlie Dilke milk
Charlie Frisky whisky
See I’m so �isky
Charlie Howard coward
Charlie Mason basin – pudding
To have a share in; a basinful

15
Charlie Pope soap
See Cape of Good Hope
Charlie Prescot waistcoat
See Billy Prescot, Colonel Prescot
Charlie Randy brandy
See Jack a Dandy
cheerful giver liver
cheese and kisses the misses – wife
cherry hogs dogs – greyhound races
Reduced to cherries
cherry ripe pipe
tripe – rubbish
Chevy Chase face
china plate mate
Me ole china
chips and peas knees
chocolate whirl girl
See Winds do whirl,
Twist and twirl
chop(ping) sticks six – Bingo
chunk of beef chief – boss
clickety-click sixty six – Bingo
clothes pegs legs
See Scotch pegs
coals and coke broke
coat and badge cadge

16
cobbler’s awls balls – testicles
�at’s a load of cobblers
cock(le) and hen ten – for ten shillings
ten years in jail
cock linnet minute
cockroach coach
cock sparrow barrow
coffee and cocoa say so
I should cocoa
Colney Hatch(es) match(es)
Colonel Prescot waistcoat
Conan Doyle boil
corns and bunions onions
He knows his corns
country cousin dozen
couple of bob damp swab – used in darts
cow and calf laugh
half
cow’s lick nick
crowded space suitcase
crust of bread head – head not mind
cuddle and kiss miss – girl
currant bun son
sun
currant-cakie shaky – a�er drinking
custard and jelly telly

17
cut and carried married
A woman le� home and
provided for by her husband
cuts and scratches matches
From cheap matches which cut
the box but did not light

daffadown dilly silly

Daily Mail tale – con man’s trick
nail
daisy roots boots – including shoes
Need a new pair of daisies
Davy Large barge
day and night light – ale
Denis Law policeman
Derby Kelley belly
deuce and ace face
deaf and dumbs plums
I’ll have a pound of deafs
dickory dock clock
cock – penis
Dick Turpin thirteen – darts
dicky bird word – of honour
dicky dirt shirt
didn’t ought port – the drink
dig in the grave shave

18
ding-dong sing-song
song
ding dong bell hell
dinky-doo twenty two – Bingo
Dr. Crippen dripping – bread and dripping
dog and bone phone
do me good wood – timber
do me goods woods – Woodbines, cigare�es
door knob bob – one shilling
See ke�le on the hob,
Touch me on the knob
drum and fe wife
knife
Drummond and Roce knife and fork – from drum and
fe, knife; and roast pork, fork.
Roast reduced to roce
Dublin tricks bricks
Duchess of Fife wife
She’s me old Dutch
Duke of Kent rent
Duke of York walk
talk
cork
chalk
fork – nger – st –
Put up your Dukes
dustbin lids kids
See saucepan lids

19
early door whore
early hours owers
earwig twig – understand
eau de Cologne telephone
Reduced to odour
Edna May way
eighteen pence sense
elephant’s trunk drunk
engineers and stokers brokers – referring to a bailiff
engineer’s spanner tanner – old sixpence

family tree lavatory

far and near beer
feather and ip kip
bed
feather plucker fucker
See pheasant plucker
eld of wheat street
fe and drum bum
ne and dandy brandy
nger and thumb rum
See Tom �umb
Finsbury Park arc – arc-lamp
reman’s hose nose
rst of May say

20
sherman’s daughter water
See miller’s daughter
ve to two Jew
eas and itchers pictures – cinema
owery dell cell – prison
four by two Jew
fourth of July tie
France and Spain rain
Friar Tuck fuck
I don’t give a Friars
fried eggs legs
frog and toad road
front wheel skid yid

garden gate magistrate

eight
gay and frisky whisky
See I’m so �isky
gay and hearty party
German band hand
German utes boots
Gertie Lee thirty three – Bingo
giggle and ti�er bi�er – beer
ginger beer tear
queer
engineer
21
ginger pop slop – police constable, via
‘ecilop’
gipsy’s warning morning
give and take cake – also for a wad of money
Glasgow boat coat
Glasgow Rangers strangers – warning for the
police coming
glass of beer ear
glorious sinner dinner
God forbid kid
�e godfors are back
Yid, Jew
lid
golliwogs (gollies) dogs – greyhound races
goofy gear ear
goose and duck truck
gooseberry pudding old woman
goose’s neck cheque To sausage a goose –
To cash a cheque
See sausage and mash
Gordon and Gotch watch
grasshopper copper – police informer
greengages wages
I’ve just got me greens
green pea key
grumble and grunt cunt
See Berkshire Hunt, Joe Hunt
Gunga Din gin
22
haddock and bloater motor
half-a-lick sick
half an Oxford scholar half a dollar – half a crown in
old money
half a peck neck
See bushel and peck
half-inch pinch – steal
pinch – arrest
half ounce bounce – cheat
halfpenny See ’apenny
ham and beef chief – warder
ham and legs legs
hammer and nail tail
trail
Hampstead Heath teeth
Pronounced Ampsteads or Amps
See Hounslow Heath
Hampton Wick prick
He gets on my wick
ha’penny dip ship
happy hours owers
harbour light all right
Hardwicke Grange change – money
Harry Lauder border – the side wings on
a stage
Harry Nash cash
Harry Randle candle

23
Harry Tagg bag
Harry Tate 1. state – of mind
2. mate
Harry Wrag fag – cigare�e
Harvey Nichol pickel – predicament
Harvey Nichols pickles
hay stack back
heap of coke bloke
See bushel o’coke
hearth rug mug – drinking
hearts of oak broke – money
heavens above love
hedge and ditch pitch – cricket or sports
Henry Halls balls – human
Herman Finck ink
hey-diddle-diddle ddle – violin
ddle – swindle
highland frisky whisky
See I’m so �isky
hit and miss kiss
piss
Hobson’s choice voice
holla boys holla collar
holy friar liar
horse and cart tart

24
horse and trap clap – VD
crap
See pony and trap
horses and carts darts
hot cross bun on the run
nun
Hounslow Heath teeth
See Hampstead Heath
hurricane deck neck

ice-cream freezer geezer – a person

I’ll be there chair
I’m aoat coat
See all aoat
I’m so frisky whisky
Reduced to I’m so
See Charlie Frisky, Gay and
�isky, Highland �isky
in and out snout
stout – the drink
inky smudge judge
Irish jig wig
Irish Mike bike
Irish rose nose – mainly a drunk’s red
nose
Irish stew true
All too Irish
25
iron hoof poof – homosexual
iron horse toss – a coin
iron tank bank
See tin tank
Isle of Wight right
all right
I suppose nose

Jack a Dandy brandy

Jack O’Dandy brandy
Jack alive ve – Bingo or £5
Jack and Jill till – cash
bill
hill
jackdaw jaw
jackdaw and rook book
Jack Jones alone
on one’s own
He’s on ’is Jack
See Pat Malone, Tod Sloan
Jack Tar bar – in a public house
Jack the Ripper kipper
jam jar car
tram-car
jam tart sweetheart
Usually reduced to tart

26
J. Arthur Rank bank
Reduced to J. Arthur
Jem Mace face
See boat race
Jenny Lea tea
Jenny Linder window
See burnt cinder
Jeremiah re
See Obadiah
Jerry O’Gorman Morman – also used for a man
seen with many different girls
Jerusalem artichoke moke – donkey
Jim Bri�s shits – diarrhoea
See thre’penny bits
Jimmy O’Goblin sovereign
Jimmy Riddle piddle – urinate
Jimmy Skinner dinner
See saint and sinner,
Lilley & Skinner
Joanna pianna – piano
Joe Blake steak
Joe Gurr stir – a prison
Joe Hunt cunt – a fool
Reduced to Joey
Joe Rook book – bookmaker
crook
John Mills wheels

27
Johnnie Horner corner – street corner
Gone round the Johnnie –
meaning gone for a drink
joy of my life wife
See trouble and strife,
war and strife, worry and strife
Joynson Hicks six

Kate and Sidney steak and kidney pudding

Kate Karney army
Kennington Lane pain
Kentish Town brown
See Camden Town
ke�le on the hob bob – one shilling in old
currency
Bob – Robert
Khyber Pass arse
Stick that up your Khyber
kidney punch lunch
King Dick brick
bricklayer
King Dickie brickie
King Lear ear – reference to ear biting
i.e. borrowing money
queer

28
lace curtain Burton – beer
la-di-dah car – referring to a new car
Lady Godiva ver – £5
Lady of the Manor tanner – old sixpenny piece
Lakes of Killarney balmy – foolish
laugh and joke smoke
lay me in the gu�er bu�er
lemon squasher washer
lemon squeezer geezer – man
Levy and Frank want
Liffey water Porter – the beer
light and dark park
Lilian Gish sh
Lilley & Skinner dinner
Lincoln’s Inn nn – a £5 note
n – the hand
gin
linen draper paper
lion’s lair chair
L.K. Clark mark – place and time of
starting
loaf of bread head – mind, common sense
See crust of bread
lollipop shop – to inform against
loop the loop soup
Want some more loopers?

29
Lord Lovell shovel
Lord Mayor swear
Lord of the Manor tanner – old sixpenny piece
lost and found pound
Lousy Brown Rose and Crown – pub name
Lucy Locket pocket
lump of ice advice
lump of lead head – a hangover head
Not reduced
See pound of lead

macaroni pony – £25

Reduced to macker
Madam De Luce spruce – deceive
Don’t give that old madam
mad Mick prick
See Pat and Mick, Uncle Dick
Mae West chest
breast
Major Loder soda – soda-water
Major Stevens evens – equal odds
man and wife knife
Maria Monk spunk
Marie Correlli telly – television
Mark Foy boy

30
Mary Ann hand
Mary Blane train
me and you blue
menu
merry-go-round pound – money
Micky Mouse house – the theatre, the
audience
milk jug mug – a fool
miller’s daughter water
See sherman’s daughter
mince pies eyes
See mu�on pies, pudding and pie
misbehave shave
mocking bird word
Molly Malone phone
Molly O’Morgan organ
monkeys’ tails nails
mortar and trowel towel
mother and daughter quarter – quarter-posts for
mooring
Mother Hubbarb cupboard
mother of pearl girl
mother’s ruin gin
See blue ruin, Brian O’Linn
Mrs. Ducke� bucket
fuck it
Mrs. Chant aunt – as a euphemism for toilet

31
muffin baker Quaker
Mu� and Jeff deaf
mu�on pies eyes
See mince pies
my mother’s away the other day
my word turd

Nancy Lea tea

See Rosy Lea
nanny goat boat
coat
Tote
National Debt bet
Naughton and Gold cold – in the head
near and far bar – pub
car
Ned Skinner dinner
See Lilley & Skinner
needle and pin gin
Nellie Blighs ies – house-ies
Nervo and Knox socks
docks
goggle box – television
Newington Bu�s guts – courage
nits and lice starting price

32
Noah’s Ark nark – informer
lark – fun
north and south mouth
no soap no hope
nose and chin win

oak joke
oak and ash cash
Obadiah re
See Jeremiah
oh my dear beer
oily rag fag – cigare�e
okey-doke poke – pocket
Old King Cole the dole
old pot and pan old man – father or husband
Oliver Twist st
once a week beak – magistrate
Reduced to oncer
cheek
one and eight plate
one and t’other mother
brother
one and two loo – toilet
one for his nob bob – shilling in old currency
on the oor poor

33
on the ooze on the booze
See River Ouse
orchestra stalls balls – testicles
Oscar Asche cash
over the stile sent for trial
Owen Nares chairs
Oxford scholar dollar – 5 shillings in old
currency
Oxo cube tube – London Underground

Paddy Rammer hammer

panorama hammer
Pat and Mick prick
Pat and Mike bike
Pat Malone alone – without equal
one one’s own
See Jack Jones, Tod Sloan
peas in the pot hot
It’s too peasy in ’ere
Peckham Rye tie
shy
pen and ink stink
pen and inker stinker
penn’orth of chalk walk – a term of dismissal
penny a mile smile

34
penny a pound ground
penny bun sun
son
See bath bun, currant bun
penny come quick trick
peppermint rocks socks
See almond rocks
pheasant plucker fucker
See feather plucker
photo-nish Guinness
piccolo and ute suit
See whistle and ute
pick and choose booze
pickled pork talk
See rabbit and pork
pig’s ear beer
pig’s fry tie
pillar and post ghost
pimple and blotch Scotch – whisky
pimple and wort quart – pub drinks measure
pineapple and wart quart
pineapple chunk bunk
pink lint skint
pitch and ll bill – a notice used by beggars
See Beecham’s pill
pitch and toss boss

35
plain and gravy navy
See pudding and gravy,
soup and gravy
plates of meat feet
pleasure and pain rain
Polly Flinder window
pony and trap crap
See horse and trap
Pope of Rome home
pot and pan old man
potatoes in the mold cold
It ain’t half taters
pot of honey money
See bees and honey
potato peeling shilling – old currency
pound of lead head
See lump of lead
premier beer
pride and joy boy
Prussian guard card – playing card in Bingo
pudding and gravy navy
See plain and gravy
pudding and pie eye
pudding and pies eyes
See mince pies
puff and dart heart
start – of a race

36
push in the truck fuck
See trolley and truck

Quaker oats coats

quarter to two Jew
See ten to two, four by two
Queen’s Park Rangers strangers

rabbit and pork talk

He doesn’t half rabbit on
See pickled pork
raspberry tart fart – blowing a raspberry
heart
rat and mouse house
louse – informer
ra�le and clank bank
ra�le and hiss piss
Rawalpindi windy – the weather
read and write ght
red rose toes
rhubarb sub – an advance on wages
rhubarb pill bill
Richard the �ird bird – feathered, and meaning
disapproval from an audience
rip and tear swear

37
River Ouse booze
See on the Ouze
roast pork talk – referring to a complaint
Are you roasting again?
Robert E. Lee quay
Robin Hood good
Robinson and Cleaver fever
rock of ages wages
rocks and boulder shoulder
rolling billows pillows
Rolls Royce voice
Rory O’More door
oor
rosebuds spuds – potatoes
Rose of �ileen green
Rosy Lea tea
See River Leas, Be�y Lee,
Nancy Lee
round me’s See round the houses
round the haystack round the back – of a building or
meaning going to the lavatory
round the houses trouses – trousers
Reduced to round me’s
Royal Mail bail
rub-a-dub-dub pub
sub – wage advance
Russian Turk work

38
sailors on the sea tea
saint and sinner dinner
See Jimmy Skinner,
Lilley & Skinner
Salford docks rocks
salmon and trout stout – beer
salt and pepper leper
Sandy McNab cab
San Toy boy
See Saveloy
saucepan lids kids
sausage and mash cash Not a sausage le�
sausage roll Pole – Polish person
saveloy young boy
See San Toy
Scapa Flow go – run away
Scotch mist st
Scotch pegs legs
Sco�ish reel peel
Sexton Blake cake
shake and shiver river
ship in full sail pint of ale
Reduced to ship
shower bath half – ten shillings in old
currency, 50 pence
Silas Hocking stocking

39
Sinbad the sailor tailor
six months’ hard playing card – Bingo
skin and blister sister
sky pocket pocket
slave and Turk work
See Russian Turk
smoked haddock paddock
soldier bold cold – in the head
See warrior bold
song of the thrush brush
See blackbird and thrush
sorry and sad bad
soup and gravy navy
See plain and gravy
South of France dance
spin and plate mate
spit and drag fag – cigare�e
stammer and stu�er bu�er
stand at ease eas
cheese
stand from under thunder
steak-and-kidney pie eye
See mince pies
steam roller bowler – hat
steam tug mug – a fool
He’s a right steamer
struggle and strain train

40
sugar and honey money
swallow and sigh collar and tie
swear and cuss bus
Sweeney Todd ying squad

tale of two cities ti�ies – breasts

tartan banner tanner – sixpence in old currency
tea grout boy scout
See Brussel sprout
tea leaf thief
tea leang thieving
tea-pot lid quid
Yid – a Jew
See tin lid
ten to two Jew
See quarter to two, four by two
there you are bar – in public house
these and those clothes
threepenny bits tits
shits
tiddler’s bait late
tiddlywink pink
drink
A li�le bit tiddly
Tilbury Docks socks

41
tin lid Yid – a Jew
See tea-pot lid
tin plate mate – Naval rst officer
tin tack track – racing
tin tank bank
See iron tank, J. Arthur Rank
tit for tat hat
Reduced to titfa
titwillow pillow
See weeping willow
Tod Sloan alone – without equal
alone – on one’s own
All on his Tod
See Jack Jones, Pat Malone
tom cat door mat
tomfoolery jewellery
Tom and Dick sick
Tom Mix six – darts score
x – a problem
Tommy O’Rann scran – food
Tommy Roller collar
Tommy Tucker supper
Tom �umb rum
tom tit shit
tom tug mug – a fool
See steam tug
too Irish stew too true
Reduced to too Irish
42
toot loot – money
Tooting Bec peck – food
total wreck cheque
touch me on the knob bob – shilling in old currency
trams gams – legs
trick cyclist psychiatrist
trolley and truck fuck
See push in the truck
trouble and strife wife
true till death breath
tumble down the sink drink
I’ll buy you a tumble
turpentine
Serpentine – lake in Hyde Park
twist and twirl girl
two and eight state – of mind
See Harry Tate
two eyes of blue too true
See Irish stew
two thirty dirty
typewriter ghter

uncle and aunts pants

Uncle Ben ten – Bingo
Uncle Bert shirt

43
Uncle Dick sick
Feeling dicky today
prick
Uncle Fred bread
Uncle Ned bed
Uncle Willy silly
chilly

Vera Lynn gin

grin
Vicar of Bray tray

Walter Joyce voice

warrior bold cold – a cold in the head
See soldier bold
weasel and stoat coat
weep and wail tale – a yarn
weeping willow pillow
See tit-willow
West Ham Reserves nerves
He gets on me West Ham’s
Westminster Abbey shabby
whip ship – referring to the ship one
is serving on

44
whistle and ute suit
Love the new whistle
whistle and foot loot – money
widow’s mite light – for a cigare�e
Wilkie Bards playing cards
William Powell towel
windjammer hammer – with carpenters on
lm sets
winds do whirl girl
See chocolate whirl, twist and
twirl
wooden pegs legs
See scotch pegs
Woolwich & Greenwich spinach
worry and strife wife
See trouble and strife,
war and strife, joy of my life

Yard of silk pint of milk

Yarmouth bloater motor
yellow silk milk
yet to be free
Yorkshire tyke mike – microphone
you and me tea
See Rosy Lea

45
you must crust – of bread
yours and ours owers

46
 English – Cockney

47
advice lump of ice
all right harbour light
Isle of Wight
alone – on one’s own or Tod Sloan
without equal She’s on her Tod
Pat Malone
Jack Jones
arc – arc-lamp Finsbury Park
arm Chalk Farm
army Kate Karney
arse Khyber Pass
Stick it up yer Khyber
arse – referring to a male bo�le and glass
prostitute On the bo�le
aunt – a relative and as a Mrs. Chant
euphemism for toilet I’m off to see me aunt

back hay stack

bad sorry and sad
bag Harry Tagg
bail Royal Mail
balls orchestra stalls
balls cobbler’s awls
�at’s a load of cobblers
balls – human Henry Halls

49
balmy – foolish Lakes of Killarney
bank J. Arthur Rank
Reduced to J. Arthur
cab rank
iron tank
ra�le and clank
tin tank
bar – in a public house Jack Tar
near and far
bazaar
there you are
barge Davy Large
barrow cock sparrow
basin – pudding Charlie Mason
beak bubble and squeak
beak – magistrate once a week
He’s in �ont of the oncer today
bed feather and ip
bed Uncle Ned
beer pig’s ear
far and near
oh my dear
premier
beers Britney Spears
believe Adam and Eve
Would you Adam and Eve it?
belly Auntie Nellie
Derby Kelley

50
bet National Debt
be�ing book Captain Cook(s)
bike Irish Mike
Pat and Mike
bill Beecham’s pill(s)
Jack and Jill
rhubarb pill
bill – a notice used by pitch and ll
beggars
bird – disapproval from Richard the �ird
an audience
bi�er – beer apple fri�er
giggle and ti�er
bloke bushel o’coke
heap of coke
blue me and you
boat nanny goat
bob – one shilling door knob
one for his nob
ke�le on the hob
touch me on the knob
Bob – Robert ke�le on the hob
boil Conan Doyle
boil – swelling can of oil
Reduced to canov
book(s) – library Captain Cook(s)
jackdaw and rook
book – bookmaker Joe Rook

51
boots – including shoes daisy roots
I like your new daisies
German utes
booze pick and choose
River Ouse
boozer ba�le cruiser
border – the side wings Harry Lauder
on a stage
boss pitch and toss
bo�le Aristotle
Reduced to Arry
bounce – cheat half ounce
bowler – hat steam roller
box – theatre Charles James Fox
boy Mark Foy
pride and joy
San Toy
saveloy
boy scout tea grout
Brussels sprout
braces airs and graces
brandy Charlie Randy
ne and dandy
Jack a Dandy
Jack O’Dandy
bread Uncle Fred
breast Mae West
breath true till death

52
brick King Dick
brickie King Dickie
bricklayer King Dickie
bricks Dublin tricks
broke – nancially coals and coke
hearts of oak
brokers – referring to engineers and stokers
a bailiff
brother one and t’other
brown – copper coin Kentish Town
Camden Town
brush – verb and noun song of the thrush
blackbird and thrush
bucket Mrs. Ducke�
bum fe and drum
bunk pineapple chunk
Burton – beer lace curtain
bus swear and cuss
bu�er lay me in the gu�er
bu�er stammer and stu�er

cab Sandy McNab

cadge coat and badge
cake Sexton Blake

53
cake – also for a wad give and take
of money
candle Harry Randle
car jam jar
near and far
car – referring to a new car la-di-dah
card – in Bingo Prussian guard
card – playing card bladder of lard
cash Harry Nash
oak and ash
Oscar Asche
sausage and mash
Not a sausage le�
cell – prison owery dell
chair I’ll be there
lion’s lair
chairs Owen Nares
chalk Duke of York
change – money Hardwicke Grange
cheek once a week
Reduced to oncer
cheese stand at ease
cheque goose’s neck
total wreck
chest Mae West
chief – boss bully beef
chunk of beef

54
chief –warder ham and beef
chilly Uncle Willy
clap – VD horse and trap
clock dickory dock
clothes these and those
clout Brussels sprout
coach cockroach
coat all aoat
Glasgow boat
I’m aoat
weasel and stoat
coats Quaker oats
cock – penis dickory dock
cold potatoes in the mold
It ain’t ’alf taters
cold – a cold in the head warrior bold
soldier bold
Naughton and Gold
collar holla boys holla
Tommy Roller
collar and tie swallow and sigh
cook babbling brook
copper – police informer grasshopper
cork Duke of York
corner – street corner Johnnie Horner
Gone round the Johnnie –
meaning gone for a drink

55
coward Charlie Howard
crap horse and trap
pony and trap
crook Joe Rook
babbling brook
crust – of bread you must
cunt grumble and grunt
Cambridge punt
Joe Hunt
Reduced to Joey
cupboard Mother Hubbarb

damp – a swab in darts couple of bob

dance South of France
darts horses and carts
deaf Mu� and Jeff
dinner glorious sinner
Jimmy Skinner
Lilley & Skinner
Ned Skinner
saint and sinner
dirty two thirty
docks Nervo and Knox
dog Cherry Hogg

56
dogs – greyhound races golliwogs
Reduced to gollies
cherry hogs
Reduced to cherries
dole Old King Cole
dollar – 5 shillings in Oxford scholar
old currency
door Rory O’More
door mat tom cat
dozen country cousin
drag – three months in prison carpet bag
drink tiddlywink
A li�le bit tiddly
tumble down the sink
I’ll buy you a tumble
dripping Dr. Crippen
drunk elephant’s truck

ear bo�le of beer

ear glass of beer
goofy gear
ear – reference to ear biting King Lear
or borrowing money
ears Britney Spears
eight garden gate
engineer ginger beer

57
Epsom Races airs and graces
evens – equal odds Major Stevens
eye pudding and pie
steak-and-kidney pie
eyes mince pies
Reduced to minces
baby’s cries
mu�on pies
pudding and pies

face boat race

Chevy Chase
deuce and ace
Jem Mace
faces airs and graces
facts brass tacks
�e whole phrase is used here
fag – cigare�e Harry Wrag
oily rag
spit and drag
fart raspberry tart
Blowing a raspberry
farts – via beans beef-hearts
feet plates of meat
fever Robinson and Cleaver
ddle – swindle hey-diddle-diddle

58
ddle – violin hey-diddle-diddle
ght read and write
ghter typewriter
n – the hand Lincoln’s Inn
ngers bell ringers
nn – a £5 note Lincoln’s Inn
re Aunt Maria
Jeremiah
Obadiah
re – domestic hearth Anna Maria
sh Andy MacNish
Lilian Gish
st Oliver Twist
Scotch mist
ve – Bingo or £5 Jack alive
ver – £5 Lady Godiva
x – a problem Tom Mix
ea Bonnie Dundee
eas stand at ease
ies – house ies alderman’s eyes
Nellie Blighs
oor Rory O’More
owers April showers
early hours
happy hours
yours and ours
ying squad Sweeney Todd

59
fool – idiot Berk
fork – nger – st Duke of York
Put up your Dukes
free yet to be
fuck push in the truck
trolley and truck
Friar Tuck
I don’t give a Friars
ca�le truck
He’s ca�led (ruined)
She needs a good ca�ling
fuck it Mrs. Ducke�
fucker pheasant plucker
feather plucker

gams – legs trams

gaol – prison bucket and pail
geezer – a person ice-cream freezer
lemon squeezer
ghost pillar and post
gin mother’s ruin
blue ruin
Brian O’Linn
bung it in
Gunga Din
Lincoln’s Inn
needle and pin
Vera Lynn
60
girl chocolate whirl
mother of pearl
twist and twirl
go – run away Scapa Flow
goggle box – television nervo and knox
good Robin Hood
gravy army and navy
green Rose of �ileen
grin Vera Lynn
ground penny a pound
Guinness photo-nish
guts – courage Newington Bu�s
gu�er bread and bu�er

hair Barnet Fair

half cow and calf
half – ten shillings in old shower bath
money; now 50 pence
half a dollar – half a crown half an Oxford scholar
in old money
hammer Paddy Rammer
panorama
hammer – with carpenters windjammer
on lm sets

61
hand German band
Me Germans are �eezing
hands Brighton sands
hard – lack of sympathy bread and lard
Ain’t that bread and lard?
hat tit for tat
Reduced to titfa
bladder of fat
head crust of bread
loaf of bread
pound of lead
head – a hangover head lump of lead
Not reduced
heart puff and dart
strawberry tart
hell ding dong bell
hill Beecham’s pill(s)
Jack and Jill
home Pope of Rome
horse – rhyming with -aws Charing Cross
hot – also for sexual reference peas in the pot
It’s a bit peasy in ’ere
house cat and mouse
rat and mouse
house – the theatre, Micky Mouse
the audience

62
ink Herman Finck
idiot Berk
Short for ‘Berkshire Hunt’,
meaning cunt, as in fool

jail bucket and pail

jaw jackdaw
Jew four by two
ten to two
ve to two
quarter to two
jewellery tomfoolery
joke oak
judge Barnaby Rudge
inky smudge

key green pea

kid God forbid
kids saucepan lids
dustbin lids
kip – sleep feather and ip
kipper Jack the Ripper
kiss hit and miss
knees biscuits and cheese
chips and peas

63
knick knacks bits and bats
knife drum and fe
man and wife
knife and fork Drummond and Roce
Roast reduced to roce
From drum and fe, knife;
and roast pork, fork

lark – fun Bushey Park

Noah’s Ark
late tiddler’s bait
later alligator
laugh cow and calf
lavatory family tree
leave – in a hurry Adam and Eve
legs bacon and eggs
clothes pegs
fried eggs
ham and legs
Scotch pegs
wooden pegs
leper salt and pepper
liar holy friar
lid God forbid
light – ale day and night
light – for a cigare�e widow’s mite

64
lips apple pips
liver cheerful giver
lodger artful dodger
loo – toilet one and two
look butcher’s hook
Take a butcher’s at this
loot – money whistle and foot
toot
louse – informer rat and mouse
love heavens above
lunch kidney punch

magistrate garden gate

mark – place and time L.K. Clark
of starting
married cut and carried
cash and carried
marry cash and carry
matches Colney Hatch(es)
cuts and scratches
mate china plate
Me ole china
Harry Tate
spin and plate
mate – Naval rst officer tin plate

65
menu me and you
mike – microphone Yorkshire tyke
milk Charlie Dilke
Want a glass of charlie?
yellow silk
minute cock linnet
miss – girl cuddle and kiss
misses – wife cheese and kisses
moke – donkey Jerusalem artichoke
money bees and honey
I’ve got no bees le�
pot of honey
sugar and honey
Morman Jerry O’Gorman
morning gipsy’s warning
mother one and t’other
motor haddock and bloater
Yarmouth bloater
mouth north and south
mug – drinking hearth rug
mug – a fool steam tug
He’s a right steamer
milk jug
tom tug

66
nail Daily Mail
nails monkeys’ tails
nark – police informer Noah’s Ark
car park
navy plain and gravy
pudding and gravy
soup and gravy
neck half a peck
hurricane deck
neck – throat bushel and peck
Get this do your bushel
nerves West Ham Reserves
He gets on me West Ham’s
nice apples and rice
nick cow’s lick
no hope no soap
nose reman’s hose
I suppose
nose – mainly a drunk’s Irish rose
red nose
nuns hot cross buns

old man – father or husband pot and pan

old pot and pan
old woman gooseberry pudding
on one’s own Jack Jones
He’s on ’is Jack
Pat Malone
67
on the booze on the ooze
on the Labour – dole beggar my neighbour
on the run hot cross bun
onions corns and bunions
He knows his corns
organ Molly O’Morgan

paddock smoked haddock

pain Kennington Lane
pants uncle and aunts
paper linen draper
park light and dark
party gay and hearty
pawn bullock’s horn
peck – food Tooting Bec
peel Sco�ish reel
penny Abergavenny
phone dog and bone
eau de Cologne
Reduced to odour
Molly Malone
piano – pronounced pianna Joanna
pickel – predicament Harvey Nichol
pickles Harvey Nichols
pictures – cinema eas and itchers

68
piddle – urinate Jimmy Riddle
piece of chalk – darts careless talk
pillow titwillow
weeping willow
pillows rolling billows
pinch – arrest half-inch
pinch – steal half-inch
pink tiddlywink
pint of ale ship in full sail
Reduced to ship
pint of milk yard of silk
pipe cherry ripe
piss hit and miss
ra�le and hiss
pissed Brahms and Liszt
pitch – cricket or sports hedge and ditch
plate one and eight
playing card bladder of lard
playing card – Bingo six months’ hard
playing cards Wilkie Bards
plums deaf and dumbs
I’ll have a pound of deafs
pocket sky pocket
Lucy Locket
poke – pocket Barney Moke
okey-doke

69
Pole – Polish person sausage roll
policeman Denis Law
ponce Alphonse
pony – £25 macaroni
Reduced to macker
poof – homosexual iron hoof
pools – football April fools
poor on the oor
Port – the drink didn’t ought
Porter – the beer Liffey water
pound – money lost and found
merry-go-round
pox band in the box
pram beef and ham
prick mad Mick
Pat and Mick
Uncle Dick
Hampton Wick
He gets on my wick
psychiatrist trick cyclist
pub rub-a-dub

Quaker muffin baker

quart – drinks measure pineapple and wart
pimple and wort

70
quarter – quarter-posts mother and daughter
for mooring
quay Robert E. Lee
queer ginger beer
King Lear
quid tea pot lid

rain Andy Cain

France and Spain
pleasure and pain
rent Burton on Trent
Duke of Kent
right Isle of Wight
river shake and shiver
road frog and toad
rocks Salford docks
Rose and Crown – pub name Lousy Brown
round the back – of a round the haystack
building or a euphemism
meaning going to the lavatory
round me’s See round the houses
round the houses trouses – trousers
row bull and cow
rum nger and thumb
Tom �umb

71
saloon bar balloon car
saw bear’s paw
say rst of May
say so coffee and cocoa
I should cocoa
Scotch – whisky pimple and blotch
scouts Brussels sprouts
scran – food Tommy O’Rann
sense eighteen pence
sent for trial over the stile
Serpentine – the lake in turpentine
Hyde Park
shabby Westminster Abbey
shaky currant-cakie
shave dig in the grave
misbehave
shilling – old currency potato peeling
ship ‘apenny dip
ha’penny dip
ship – while serving on a ship whip
shirt Uncle Bert
dicky dirt
shit tom tit
shits – diarrhoea threepenny bits
Jim Bri�s
shop – to inform against lollipop

72
shoulder rocks and boulder
shovel Lord Lovell
shy Peckham Rye
sick half-a-lick
Tom and Dick
Uncle Dick
Feeling dicky today
silly Uncle Willy
daffadown dilly
sing-song ding-dong
sister skin and blister
six Joynson Hicks
six – Bingo chop sticks
six – darts score Tom Mix
sixty six – Bingo clickety-click
skint boracic lint
pink lint
sky apple pie
sleep bo-peep
slop – police constable, ginger pop
via ecilop
smile penny a mile
smoke laugh and joke
sneeze bread and cheese
snout in and out

73
soap band of hope
Charlie Pope
Cape of Good Hope
socks army rocks
almond rocks
Me almonds are wet
Nervo and Knox
peppermint rocks
Tilbury Docks
soda – soda-water Major Loder
son currant bun
bath bun
penny bun
song ding dong
soup loop the loop
Want some more loopers?
sovereign Jimmy O’Goblin
sparrow bow and arrow
speak bubble and squeak
spinach Woolwich and Greenwich
spruce – deceive Madam De Luce
Don’t give that old madam
spuds – potatoes rosebuds
spunk Maria Monk
stairs apples and pears
start – of a race puff and dart
starting price nits and lice

74
state – of mind Harry Tate
two and eight
steak Joe Blake
steak and kidney pudding Kate and Sidney
still – photograph Beecham’s pill
stink pen and ink
stinker pen and inker
stir – a prison Joe Gurr
stocking Silas Hocking
stools – pub April fools
stout – beer salmon and trout
stout – the drink in and out
strangers – warning for the Queen’s Park Rangers
police coming
street eld of wheat
sub – an advance on wages rhubarb
rub-a-dub
suit whistle and ute
Love the new whistle
piccolo and ute
suitcase crowded space
sun currant bun
bath bun
penny bun
supper Tommy Tucker
swear Lord Mayor
rip and tear

75
sweetheart jam tart
Reduced to tart

table Cain and Abel

tail – dog’s hammer and nail
alderman’s nail
tailor Sindbad the sailor
tale – a con man’s trick weep and wail
Daily Mail
talk rabbit and pork
He doesn’t half rabbit on
Duke of York
pickled pork
talk – referring to a complaint roast pork
Are you roasting again?
tanner – old sixpenny piece Lady of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
engineer’s spanner
tartan banner
tart horse and cart
tea Rosy Lea
Be�y Lee
Jenny Lea
Nancy Lea
sailors on the sea
you and me
tear ginger beer

76
teeth Hampstead Heath
Ampsteads or Amps
Hounslow Heath
telly Marie Correlli
custard and jelly
ten Big Ben
ten – Bingo Uncle Ben
ten – years in gaol cock(le) and hen
testicles Beecham’s pills
Don’t talk pills – rubbish
the dole Old King Cole
the other day my mother’s away
thief tea leaf
thieving tea leang
thirteen – darts Dick Turpin
thirty three – Bingo Gertie Lee
thunder stand from under
ticket bat and wicket
tie fourth of July
Peckham Rye
pig’s fry
till – cash Benny Hill
Jack and Jill
time – prison sentence and bird lime
time of day
tits threepenny bits

77
ti�ies – breasts Bristol Cities
A nice pair of Bristols
tale of two cities
toes red rose
too true too Irish stew
Reduced to too Irish
two eyes of blue
tools April fools
toss – a coin Iron horse
Tote canal boat
nanny goat
tout Brussels sprout
towel mortar and trowel
William Powell
track – racing tin tack
trail hammer and nail
train struggle and strain
Mary Blane
tram-car jam jar
tray Vicar of Bray
trick penny come quick
tripe – rubbish cherry ripe
trousers, trouses round the houses
Reduced to round me’s
truck goose and duck
true Irish stew
All too Irish

78
tube – London Underground Oxo cube
turd my word
twenty two – Bingo dinky-doo
twig earwig

umbrella Auntie Ella

understand, twig earwig

voice Hobson’s choice

Rolls Royce
Walter Joyce

wages greengages
Have you had your greens yet?
rock of ages
waistcoat Billy Prescot
Colonel Prescot
Charlie Prescot
walk Duke of York
walk – a term of dismissal ball of chalk
Take a ball of chalk
penn’orth of chalk
wall Albert Hall

79
want Levy and Frank
wash Bob Squash
washer lemon squasher
watch Gordon and Gotch
water sherman’s daughter
miller’s daughter
way Edna May
wheels John Mills
whisky Charlie Frisky
gay and frisky
highland frisky
I’m so frisky
Reduced to I’m so
whizz bo�le of zz
whore early door
wife trouble and strife
worry and strife
drum and fe
joy of my life
carving knife
Duchess of Fife
She’s me old Dutch
wig Irish jig
win nose and chin
window burnt cinder
Jenny Linder
Polly Flinder
windy – the weather Rawalpindi

80
wood – timber do me good
woods – Woodbines, cigare�es do me goods
word mocking bird
word – of honour dicky bird
work Russian Turk
slave and Turk

Yid – a Jew front wheel skid

tin lid
tea-pot lid
God forbid

81