Cockney Rhyming Slang

Work out from the context the meanings of these examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang:

 Freddie Whistler was all on his own. His trouble and strife had gone to stay with her skin and blister. The night before Freddie had gone to the pub to celebrate the fact that he was being spared some of her usual rabbiting on and their usual bulls and cows. He had had quite a few pints of pig's ear and had come home from the pub absolutely Brahms and Liszt.

He was still in Uncle Ned but the currant bun was already starting to shine through the curtains, so he had a butcher's at the dickory dock to see what the bird lime was. He got up, found the Cape of Good Hope and had a wash. He put on some clean almonds because the old ones pen and ink-ed a bit. Then he put on his round the houses and a clean Dicky Dirt, and went down the apples to make himself some Rosy Lea.

He couldn't find the you and me at first so he decided to use his loaf a bit, and he found it in the end. When he'd finished his Rosy, he decided to get out the jam jar to go down the frog and toad to see an old china of his who lived round the Johnnie Horner, so he put his plates in his daisies and his pipe in his north and south, ran a comb through his Barnet, took his titfer and went out.

trouble and strife

_________________

skin and blister

_________________

rabbit and pork

_________________

bull and cow

_________________

pig's ear

_________________

Brahms and Liszt

_________________

Uncle Ned

_________________

currant bun

_________________

butcher's hook

_________________

dickory dock

_________________

bird lime

_________________

Cape of Good Hope

_________________

almond rocks

_________________

pen and ink

_________________

round the houses

_________________

Dicky Dirt

_________________

apples and pears

_________________

Rosy Lea

_________________

you and me

_________________

loaf of bread

_________________

jam jar

_________________

frog and toad

_________________

china plate

_________________

Johnnie Horner

_________________

plates of meat

_________________

daisy roots

_________________

north and south

_________________

Barnet fair

_________________

tit for tat

_________________

 

 

© Nigel J. Ross, 2002


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