We’ll raise our titfer if your Robin Hood at this Cockney rhyming slang .
As its name suggests, Cockney rhyming slang originates from the East End of London. It replaces a common word with a phrase of two or three words, and then in most cases omits the original rhyming word. This is a process called hemiteleia and makes the origin and meaning of the phrase elusive to unfamiliar listeners. Therefore ‘telephone’ becomes ‘dog and bone’ which is truncated to ‘dog’. ‘I’ll give you a call on the dog’.
Here’s your chance to find out what you understand of this clever and entertaining language with our ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ quiz.
