One of the reasons Cockneys are well-known around Britain and the world is for their typical accent and the famous Cockney Rhyming Slang, or Cockney Rabbit, as it is sometimes known. Cockney talk originated as a secret way of communicating by costermongers when carrying out illegal street trade on the London streets in the mid-nineteenth century. If yew don't wan' ter get caught by the pork chops an' end up in a flowery dell, they 'ad be'er not understand what yew’re tawkin’ about. Nuff said, yeah?
 

The principle is simple enough: Choose what you want to say, then find words that rhyme loosely with it. Famous examples are "trouble and strife"- wife, or "apples and pears"- stairs.
Sometimes the connection isn’t as straightforward. "Pork chops" means police. Not obvious unless you connect "police" and "pigs". These days, Cockney rhyming slang is still in use, but less for illegal activities and more for a laugh! And as its use grows to encompass more than the East End, so does its repertory of expressions. The Cockney dictionary – Dick’n Harry – is getting longer every day! Many cockney expressions are now part of everyday speech, although some wouldn’t realise they were using it. "Leave it out!", "Geezer", "What’s the damage?", "Hang about" are just a few of them
 

Cockneys are known for their eloquent wit. Their gift for phrase making and nicknaming has enriched the English tongue with new forms of speech. Their clever clichés and catchwords have proliferated many, many miles out of earshot of the sound of Bow Bells around the English speaking world. Thanks more to Vinnie Jones in "Lock, Stock…" than to Dick Van Dyke in "Mary Poppins"!!

And thanks as well to the London cabbies. They propagated Cockney talk to every corner of the capital. Today, not all of them come from East London – some are from ‘Daan’Saarf’ too – but they share with the cockneys their sense of solidarity, their love of London and a long history within its streets.

To view a list of common Rhyming Slang please click here