Saturday, 26 August 2023

Four expressions I didn't know until today came from rhyming slang


- Scarper; British slang for 'run away'. From Scapa Flow - Go. 

- Grass; as in informant. From Grasshopper - copper (and from there to copper's nark) 

- Dukes; slang for fists, as in 'duking it out'. From Duke of York - Fork. ('Forks' being now-forgotten slang for hands.) 

- Donkey's years; a long time. From Donkey's Ears, rhyming slang for Years... but then the Y crept back in. 


Alt Text: Donkey's ears. And between them, a donkey. Well, I suppose there's always a donkey between a donkey's ears. I mean: another one, framed in the photo between the ears of the first donkey. Glad we've got that clear. It doesn't matter in the least. 

12 comments:

Tealin said...

These are fascinating! I had no idea! I use 'donkey's years' all the time and didn't even know it was British, nevermind rhyming slag (or devolved rhyming slang). Thank you!

Lexi said...

I didn't know any of those, and my workshop is in Hoxton, in living memory a shady part of the East End. English is the best language, no question.

Anonymous said...

Love this, and particularly the return of the 'y' to donkey's years. Margery Allingham has misled me all these years into thinking scarper was a Romany word. Tsk.

v.edgy said...

These are great. On a slightly different note I think I knew that £5 was sometimes called a Lady, after Lady Godiva. But I definitely didn't know until recently, and loved learning, that £15 is sometimes called a Commodore, after The Commodores' song Three Times a Lady.

nkx9 said...

Well, you're clearly a man with access to pictures of sad donkeys...

Zouk Delors said...

Scapa Flow as rhyming slang for 'go' sounds totally plausible, but Scapa isn't pronounced with the long a suggested by the r in scarper, is it?

What's your source, anyway, John?

Anonymous said...

SSN DOB DL Fullz
CC with CVV Fullz
High Credit Scores Pros
DL Scan Front & Back
Business EIN Company Fullz
Fullz for SBA, PUA, UI, KYC & Tax return

USA UK Canada Fullz Available
Fresh Spammed & Verified

ICQ 752822040/@killhacks
Telegram @leadsuppler/@killhacks
Email hacksp007 @ dnmx.org

Big Bull said...

Telegram @killhacks / @leadsupplier
ICQ 752822040 / @killhacks
Email hacksp007 @ dnmx.org

Fresh Fullz Available
USA UK CANADA AUS RU
Fresh spammed & Verified
Legit fullz with all necessary info included

SSN DOB DL
CC WITH CVV
HIGH CREDIT SCORES PROS
DUMPS WITH PINS TRACK 101 & 202
DL SCAN FRONT & BACK
BUSINESS EIN COMPANY FULLZ
FULLZ FOR KYC|SBA|UI|PUA|TAXX RETURN
SPECIFIC STATES|CITIES|ZIPS FULLZ

All data will be valid & guaranteed
Invalid info will be replace
Bulk order preferable

Anonymous said...

No self respecting matelot would call it SCAPPA flow …. See “Sink The Bizmark” … 1950s… definitely SCARPA FLO !

Anonymous said...

I think scarper is earlier than that & comes from the Italian scappare - run away - perhaps via theatrical slang & the same roots as Polari (which comes from parlare = speak). A lot of music hall, pantomime & Punch & Judy performers were Italian. Scarper is recorded in 19th century London slums: I kind of doubt people were very conscious of Scapa Flow before WWI.

Anonymous said...

SSN DOB DL ADDRESS FULLZ (USA)
SIN DOB ADDRESS (CANADA)
DEAD FULLZ (UK)
REAL DL SCAN FRONT BACK WITH SSN (USA)
YOUNG AGE FULLZ (2002 ABOVE)
BUSIENSS EIN COMPANY FULLZ
CC WITH CVV & BILLING ADDRESS (USA|UK|CANADA)
CLONNING CARD DUMPS TRACK 101 & 202
BULK FULLZ OF ALL USA STATES
SMTP'S|RDP'S|C-PANELS|WEB-MAILERS

TELEGRAM @leadsupplier | @killhacks
ICQ 752822040 | @killhacks
Email bigbull0334 @ onion mail . org

Contact for more deals & discounts

Anonymous said...

as a newbie to cryptocurrency trading, I lost a lot of money trying to navigate the market on my own, then in my search for a genuine and trusted trader/broker, i came across Trader Bernie Doran who guided and helped me retrieve my lost cryptocurrencies and I made so much profit up to the tune of $60,000. I made my first investment with $2,000 and got a ROI of $25,000 in less than 2 week. You can contact this expert trader Mr Bernie Doran via Gmail : BERNIEDORANSIGNALS@GMAIL.COM