Truncated Cockney Rhyming Slang Quiz

Answer: Cash a cheque

He'd be giving you the shorthand version of "Can you sausage and mash (cash) a goose's neck (cheque)?" Tradition has it that the Cockneys were not above a little thievery and skullduggery and their rhyming slang was developed so that they could exchange information within earshot of a peeler (a policeman).

Answer: Voice

The Cockney rhyming slang for 'voice' is 'Hobson's choice'. It's another example of dropping the word that rhymes with the English word, leaving only an unrelated word.

Answer: His coat

A coat in Cockney rhyming slang is a "nanny goat". Again, the word that rhymes with the English word has been dropped. Cockney slang has been (and still is) evolving over the past 600 years. For instance, if you order a glass of cider in a pub where Cockney is spoken, you could ask for a Winona (Winona Ryder), which is a fairly recent addition to the Cockney dictionary. One wonders what Cockneys called cider before Ms Ryder hit stardom.

Answer: Look at it

Alf is obviously very proud of his motor bike. "Butcher's" is the shortened version of butcher's hook (look). The word Cockney, by the way, is said by some to be derived from costermonger (I don't know how). A costermonger sold fruit - or other commodities - off a barrow. You can still see some in London these days.

Answer: Get your feet off the table

Your Aunty Lil doesn't want your feet (plates of meat) scuffing her coffee table! Aunty Lil, like all genuine Cockneys, was born within the sound of Bow Bells. St. Mary le Bow Church is in Cheapside, in the City of London. There has been a church on the site since the time of the Norman Conquest (perhaps even before), but the Bow Bells referred to in song and story hung in the steeple of the church designed by Sir Christopher Wren to replace the original church destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666.

The steeple and its bells were demolished in 1941 during the blitz, but were restored in the 1950s.

Answer: A shirt that goes with the suit

A shirt in Cockney rhyming slang is a dicky dirt, and a suit is a whistle and flute - hence mum's recommendation that dad wear a certain shirt with his suit.

Answer: Beer, rum and gin

George is going to have a beer (pig's ear, shortened to pig's). Mary will enjoy a glass of rum (Tom Thumb, shortened to tom) and you're going to guzzle gin (mother's ruin, shortened to mother's). You could have ordered a needle instead of a mother's, because needle and pin is also gin.

Answer: The cat

It is not uncommon for Brits - including Cockneys - to let the cat (the this and that, usually shortened to this) out for the night, seeing that cats like to roam around in the dark. If you'd like to learn more Cockney slang, log on to phespirit.com. Phespirit is a Cockney who has put together a concise dictionary of Cockney slang on line.

Answer: Down the road

Bert is just down the frog and toad, which naturally got shortened to frog. Well, it makes sense to Cockneys. One of the first Cockney slang sentences I ever learned was "I'm going down the frog and toad to the rub-a-dub-dub for a pen and ink." ("I'm going down the road to the pub for a drink.")

Answer: In the army

Fred's probably in Iraq or Afghanistan, because in Cockney rhyming slang, the army is the daft and barmy (daft). No wonder mum's worried. The navy, however, is the soup and gravy (gravy), while the RAF is the blind and deaf (deaf). If Fred was in prison, he'd be in the dell (flowery dell=cell), or in the nick.