Language: Top 100 Cockney Rhyming Slang Words and Phrases

Hot on the heels of our success with our Top 100 Best British Slang Phrases, we thought we’d explore the beauty of Cockney Rhyming Slang next.

Rhyming slang is believed to have originated in the mid-19th century in the East End of London, with sources suggesting some time in the 1840s. It dates from around 1840 among the predominantly Cockney population of the East End of London who are well-known for having a characteristic accent and speech patterns.

It remains a matter of speculation whether rhyming slang was a linguistic accident, a game, or a cryptolect developed intentionally to confuse non-locals. If deliberate, it may also have been used to maintain a sense of community. It is possible that it was used in the marketplace to allow vendors to talk amongst themselves in order to facilitate collusion, without customers knowing what they were saying. Another suggestion is that it may have been used by criminals (see thieves’ cant) to confuse the police.

Whatever the origins – there are many fun turns of phrases and we’ve put together the Top 100 Words and Phrases that we could find for your reading pleasure.

Here’s an interesting lesson on the slang from locals in London:

Top 100 Cockney Rhyming Slang Words and Phrases:

Adam and Eve – believe
Alan Whickers – knickers
apples and pears – stairs
Artful Dodger – lodger
Ascot Races – braces
Aunt Joanna – piano
Baked Bean – Queen
Baker’s Dozen – Cousin
Ball and Chalk – Walk
Barnaby Rudge – Judge
Barnet Fair – hair
Barney Rubble – trouble
Battlecruiser – boozer
bees and honey – money
bird lime – time (in prison)
Boat Race – face
Bob Hope – soap
bottle and glass – arse
Brahms and Liszt – pissed (drunk)
Brass Tacks – facts
Bread and Cheese – sneeze
Bread and Honey – money
Bricks and Mortar – daughter
Bristol City – breasts
Brown Bread – dead
Bubble and Squeak – Greek
Bubble Bath – Laugh
butcher’s hook – a look
Chalfont St. Giles – piles
Chalk Farm – arm
china plate – mate (friend)
Cock and Hen – ten
Cows and Kisses – Missus (wife)
currant bun – sun (also The Sun, a British newspaper)
custard and jelly – telly (television)
Daisy Roots – boots
Darby and Joan – moan
Dicky bird – word
Dicky Dirt – shirt
Dinky Doos – shoes
dog and bone – phone
dog’s meat – feet [from early 20th c.]
Duck and Dive – skive
Duke of Kent – rent
dustbin lid – kid
Elephant’s Trunk – drunk
Fireman’s Hose – nose
Flowery Dell – cell
Frog and Toad – road
Gypsy’s kiss – piss
half-inch – pinch (to steal)
Hampton Wick – prick
Hank Marvin – starving
irish pig – wig
Isle of Wight – tights
jam-jar – car
Jayme Gibbs
Jimmy Riddle – piddle
joanna – piano (pronounced ‘pianna’ in Cockney)
Khyber Pass – arse
Kick and Prance – dance
Lady Godiva – fiver
Laugh n a joke – smoke
Lionel Blairs – flares
Loaf of Bread – head
loop the loop – soup
Mickey Bliss – piss
Mince Pies – eyes
Mork and Mindy – windy’
north and south – mouth
Orchestra stalls – balls
Pat and Mick – sick
Peckham Rye – tie
plates of meat – feet
Pony and Trap – crap
raspberry ripple – nipple
raspberry tart – fart
Roast Pork – fork
Rosy Lee – tea (drink)
Round the Houses – trousers
Rub-a-Dub – pub
Ruby Murray – curry
Sausage Roll – goal
septic tank – Yank
sherbert (short for sherbert dab) – cab (taxi)
Skin and Blister – sister
Sky Rocket – pocket
Sweeney Todd – flying squad
syrup of figs – wig (sic)
tables and chairs – stairs
tea leaf – thief
Todd Sloane – alone
Tom and Dick – sick
tom tit – shit
tomfoolery – jewellery
Tommy Trinder – window
trouble and strife – wife
two and eight – state (of upset)
Vera Lynn – gin
whistle and flute – suit (of clothes)

Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

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