Rhyming Slang: Bishops Hassick or Elmer Fudd?

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Yesterday morning a local DJ who, for no obvious reason, fancies himself as a bit of a comedian referred to the current mini-series being shown on CNN as 'the Archie Moore'. I vaguely recall the Mr Moore so honored by that use of his name as a heavyweight boxer from the 50s but I could be miles out.

Obtuse and obscure? Surely. But then again, I was struck by the appropriateness of something Glenn McGrath said after he was hauled over the coals by the Aust Cricket Board back around 1996 for behaving like a dickhead to an umpire after a decision went against him: 'I'm just going to have to learn to control myself and stop backchatting the Forrest Gumps.'

So what is it with rhyming slang? Good and bad examples? The thread is yours...

― Fred Nerk, Friday, 21 March 2003 23:33 (twenty-three years ago)

i love 'frog and toad' and use it all the time

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 21 March 2003 23:36 (twenty-three years ago)

A Fine Arts tutor I had used to love winding up the class by saying that modern abstract art was mostly a load of Jackson Pollocks.

― Karen, Saturday, 22 March 2003 01:10 (twenty-three years ago)

A friend of mine when leaving often refers to himself as being Darren Gough, he patently isn't, but never mind.

― Matt (Matt), Saturday, 22 March 2003 17:12 (twenty-three years ago)

so what does "frog and toad" mean??

― dave k, Saturday, 22 March 2003 22:44 (twenty-three years ago)

road

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Sunday, 23 March 2003 01:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Frog and toad = woad. We English cover ourselves with this when invaded.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 23 March 2003 11:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Frog and toad = woad. We English cover ourselves with this when invaded.

dat be funny.

― g-kit (g-kit), Monday, 24 March 2003 12:20 (twenty-three years ago)

"Keep yer Alans on" and "Do us a lemon, son" are definitely classic. Anything invented recently mostly=dud.

― SittingPretty (sittingpretty), Monday, 24 March 2003 14:14 (twenty-three years ago)

My brother is a king of making up new rhyming slang / silly phrases.

My favourite is "Jeez, he's got a right sirloin on, a proper twelve ouncer"

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Monday, 24 March 2003 15:05 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

pascoe: on the download.

― cºzen (Cozen), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:14 (twenty-one years ago)

most of the rhyming slang i know comes from repeated viewings of to sir, with love.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

from don cheadle's inexplicably cockney character in ocean's eleven i'm told that "barney" > "barney rubble" > "trouble"

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

five months pass...

Here's a few I learned when Tracy Ullman was on Jonesy's Jukebox:

Septic = septic tank = yank
Scotches = scotch (eggs) = legs

George Michael = menstrual cycle
"I can't go swimming, I'm on me George Michael."

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

So is septic an Aus or UK slang? It is still really common in Aus to call americans septics.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 22:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to work with a British guy and I still sometimes say that I'm Lee Marvin (starvin') or that I'm going to try and half-inch (pinch/steal) something.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 22:24 (twenty-one years ago)

this confuses the shit out of me.

― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 22:27 (twenty-one years ago)

"I can't go swimming, I'm on me George Michael."

Oh no.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 22:29 (twenty-one years ago)

You had to hear Tracy Ullman do it in the Cockney housewife voice. Maybe not.

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 22:33 (twenty-one years ago)

So is septic an Aus or UK slang?
I dunno, being a Septic myself. Maybe some experts will help, but I bet they are bored to death of the topic.

Some Aussie slang (I think):
I'm on me Pat Malone = I'm (all) alone

― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 22:35 (twenty-one years ago)

My fave is "I don't have a Scooby" where Scooby = Scooby Doo = clue

Although most rhyming slang can fuck off. You should ONLY use rhyming slang if you've got a working class accent - otherwise it makes you sound punchable.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 08:38 (twenty-one years ago)

(however, that may be the most punchable post I've ever made, so ignore me)

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 10:04 (twenty-one years ago)

People who make up their own on the spot truly are a Michael Caine in the Tijuana Brass.

― Fred Nerk (Fred Nerk), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 10:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I do like how Hank Marvin will achieve immortality not through his 9 number one singles and revolutionising the way people play guitar, but because his surname rhymes with "starving".

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 12:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Good point, Dom. I think I will listen to him play "Adios Muchachos" right now.

For beginners trying to find a way in, search: Anthony Burgess's The Doctor Is Sick.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 13:56 (twenty-one years ago)

four years pass...

http://www.theage.com.au/world/london-atms-use-cockney-slang-20090825-exgr.html

― internetkonnektivität (electricsound), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 05:52 (sixteen years ago)

Slaney Wright, a 32-year-old charity worker, attempted to withdraw money from the ATM but visibly tensed up when she realised the machine was talking to her in Cockney slang. She immediately canceled the transaction and ripped the card out of the machine.

"It looks like someone's been messing with it," she said.

Well that went well for them then =)

― Spy in the Cab Sav (Trayce), Tuesday, 25 August 2009 06:49 (sixteen years ago)

five months pass...

The experts advise parents not to try and catch teens out in their lies, force confessions out of them, lecture them or get angry. Are they kidding? My own rules of thumb are rather different. Where possible, try to differentiate between serious lies - eg round bullying, promiscuity, heavy drug use - and more trivial, like the odd spliff. (Here it helps to remember one's own past - and present - porkies.) The serious stuff needs not lectures but real support and work on the causes. Otherwise, looking them straight in the eye with as much wry disbelief as you can muster, smile. It's quite hard for them to sustain a fib if they start laughing too. Even if they don't, at least you've proved you're not as easily duped as they believe, or hope.

Porkies = Pork Pies = Lies? This is from a Guardian article.

― kingkongvsgodzilla, Monday, 22 February 2010 15:36 (sixteen years ago)

two years pass...

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/409581_10150924896781596_1279352618_n.jpg

― Steam Sale Jonesin' (kingfish), Sunday, 15 July 2012 00:53 (thirteen years ago)

seven years pass...

Norwegians (fjords) = chords, courtesy of Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe

― My Chess Hustler (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 2 May 2020 20:32 (six years ago)

three years pass...

Nelson (Mandela) = Stella (Artois)

I just overheard someone say this five minutes ago.

― Monthly Python (Tom D.), Wednesday, 16 August 2023 11:54 (two years ago)

nine months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij5mw_eqKuc

― I've left the box of soup near your shoes (Tom D.), Saturday, 18 May 2024 08:51 (two years ago)

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