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The form of Cockney slang is made clear with the following example. The rhyming phrase "apples and pears" is used to mean "stairs". Following the pattern of omission, "and pears" is dropped, thus the spoken phrase "I'm going up the apples" means "I'm going up the stairs".
However, one further explanation links the lyrics of the popular nursery rhyme to the East London colloquial dialect of the 1800’s, known as “Cockney Rhyming Slang”. [30] In this dialect “weasel” relates to “weasel and stoat”, or coat, and “pop” relates the “pop shop” or pawnbrokers shop.
The song's title refers to an 1880s colloquialism for a partner or friend. The phrase has a number of etymologies: three Cockney rhyming slang explanations identify the phrase as coming from "dutch plate" ("mate"), "Duchess of Fife" ("wife"), or "Dutch house" ("spouse"). [6]
Back in the 1930s, ordering a dog soup would get you a tall glass of good ol' water. Considering that the slang originated during the Great Depression, it makes perfect sense.
Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle-class roots. The term Cockney is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, [1] [2] [3] or, traditionally, born within earshot of Bow Bells.
Cockney rhyming slang. 39 Steps From the 39 Steps: 40 Life begins Refers to the proverb 'life begins at forty'. Naughty 40 Possibly in reference to the Naughty Forty. 41 Time for fun Rhymes with "forty-one". 42 Winnie the Pooh Rhymes with "forty-two" and in reference to Winnie-the-Pooh, a beloved UK children's book character. 43 Down on your knees
‘It’s cute when he tells me all the different phrases, but I really don’t get it!’ actor said
A London alley contemporary with the song - Boundary Street 1890. The song is full of working class cockney rhyming slang and idiomatic phrasing.. The song tells the story of Bill and his wife who, with a lodger, live down an alleyway off the street (which were usually passages lined with crowded tenements), near the Old Kent Road, one of the poorest districts in London.