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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2015/aug/17/cockney-rhyming-slang-dying-out-younger-people
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| Would you Adam and Eve it? Cockney rhyming slang is nearly brown bread | Would you Adam and Eve it? Cockney rhyming slang is nearly brown bread |
| (1 day later) | |
| Age: About 175 years. | Age: About 175 years. |
| Appearance: Diminishing by the minute, me old china. | Appearance: Diminishing by the minute, me old china. |
| Are you OK? I’m not entirely Bobby Moore. Had some bad news. Could do with a cup of Rosie Lee and an oily rag, to be honest. | Are you OK? I’m not entirely Bobby Moore. Had some bad news. Could do with a cup of Rosie Lee and an oily rag, to be honest. |
| I think you’re having a stroke. I’ll call someone. I don’t Adam and Eve this! Use your loaf! | I think you’re having a stroke. I’ll call someone. I don’t Adam and Eve this! Use your loaf! |
| Related: The ultimate guide to Cockney rhyming slang | Related: The ultimate guide to Cockney rhyming slang |
| It’s getting worse. Just sit tight, I’ll be back in a moment. Have you really not got a Scooby what’s going on? I’m using the old Cockney dialect, rhyming slang. | |
| Eh? Paired words that rhyme with the intended word: Bobby Moore = sure, Rosie Lee = tea, loaf of bread = head, Adam and Eve = believe, bees and honey = money, pig and roast = toast, Scooby = Scooby Doo = clue. | Eh? Paired words that rhyme with the intended word: Bobby Moore = sure, Rosie Lee = tea, loaf of bread = head, Adam and Eve = believe, bees and honey = money, pig and roast = toast, Scooby = Scooby Doo = clue. |
| What’s the bad news? And why are you complicating our communication in this way? Because a new survey says this vibrant form of speech is nearly brown bread. | What’s the bad news? And why are you complicating our communication in this way? Because a new survey says this vibrant form of speech is nearly brown bread. |
| Wait – brown bread … Dead? Yes! See – it’s lemon squeezy when you get into it. | Wait – brown bread … Dead? Yes! See – it’s lemon squeezy when you get into it. |
| Mm. Is it dying out because it’s unnecessarily time-consuming and inefficient? It’s doing fine among the over 45s. But the younger folk are increasingly Scoobyless. | Mm. Is it dying out because it’s unnecessarily time-consuming and inefficient? It’s doing fine among the over 45s. But the younger folk are increasingly Scoobyless. |
| OK, I understand the principle now. Try me. What’s a syrup? | OK, I understand the principle now. Try me. What’s a syrup? |
| Something I put on my granola if I’m celebrating? No. Syrup = syrup of figs = wig. What’s a boat race? | Something I put on my granola if I’m celebrating? No. Syrup = syrup of figs = wig. What’s a boat race? |
| An ancient public demonstration of elitism that will soon be rightly outlawed when Comrade Corbyn comes to power? Boat race = face. Do you travel by plates or jam jar? | An ancient public demonstration of elitism that will soon be rightly outlawed when Comrade Corbyn comes to power? Boat race = face. Do you travel by plates or jam jar? |
| Related: The student world turned upside down | Letters from Bernard Ingham and others | |
| Neither of those rhymes with Uber. Plates of meat = feet, jam jar = car. | Neither of those rhymes with Uber. Plates of meat = feet, jam jar = car. |
| But why? Why would you bother? Opinion is divided. Maybe it fostered a sense of community, maybe it was useful for obscuring nefarious activity, maybe it’s just a joyous offshoot of the gift of language that, after all, is what marks us out from the beasts. Or maybe that’s just a load of cobblers’ (awls = balls). | But why? Why would you bother? Opinion is divided. Maybe it fostered a sense of community, maybe it was useful for obscuring nefarious activity, maybe it’s just a joyous offshoot of the gift of language that, after all, is what marks us out from the beasts. Or maybe that’s just a load of cobblers’ (awls = balls). |
| Do say: What a precious part of our linguistic heritage. I’m going up the apples and pears to do more research into it. | Do say: What a precious part of our linguistic heritage. I’m going up the apples and pears to do more research into it. |
| Don’t say: Berk. It’s a contraction of Berkeley Hunt. | Don’t say: Berk. It’s a contraction of Berkeley Hunt. |
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