Rhyming slang is a form of Strine Aussie slang that originated a century ago among the cockneys in England and brought to Australia by immigrants and convicts from Great Britain.
Rhyming slang usually consists of a several-word phrase used to denote a specific word, with the last word rhyming with the intended word. For example, dog and bone is rhyming slang for telephone. And since Captain Cook is the 18th century explorer who discovered the east coast of Australia, to Captain Cook is to look.
But it doesnt stop there.
Often, the rhyming-slang phrase is abbreviated, with the latter, rhyming word dropped from use. Using the above examples, saying the dog went or the dog barked means that the phone rang, while saying youll have a Captain means youll take a look at something.
And the variations can go on and on. For example, an American is often referred to as septic tank, since it rhymes with Yank. The phrase becomes even more deviated, as Aussies have dropped the second, rhyming word and twisted the first in order to refer to Americans as Seppos.
The origins of rhyming slang are as muddled as the phrases themselves sound in verbal exchanges. Some suggest that rhyming slang was created by criminals and delinquents in order to keep their conversations from being understood if monitored by the police. Others say the rhyming originated when marketplace vendors wanted to talk among themselves without potential customers understanding their intents.
Many phrases use common, everyday objects such as apples and pears for stairs and frog and toad for road. Other phrases use real or figurative individuals, such as Al Capone for telephone and Johnny Horner for a corner. So, to hook around the Johnny Horner is to run around the corner.
Rhyming slang is not as popular as earlier in the 1900s, and often it is only the cruder phrases and sayings that remain in use by Aussies.
Some examples of rhyming slang:
Al Capone telephone
Apples and pears stairs
Billy (or teapot) lids kids
Captain Cook to look
Dog and bone the telephone
Dogs eye pie
Ducks and geese police
Eau de cologne the telephone
Frog and toad road
Joe Blake a snake
Johnny Horner a corner
Noahs ark a shark
Oxford scholar—dollar
Plates of meat ones feet
Reg Grundies undies
Rubbity dub bath tub or pub
Seppo or septic tank American (Yank)
Steak and kidney Sydney
Trouble and strife wife
You can do it
Create 10 rhyming slang phrases for items, objects or actions.
Craft a short paragraph using several rhyming slang phrases.