Yvonne: Hello, I'm Yvonne Archer.
Alice: I'm Alice.
Yvonne: And this is 6 Minute English! Now, like me, you were born in London, weren't
you Alice?
Alice: Yes I was.
Yvonne: Were you born within the sounds of Bow bells, in the East End of London?
Alice: No, I wasn’t born close enough to hear the bells ringing from a certain church
in Bow.
Yvonne: Ah, so that means officially, you’re not a Cockney. But I imagine like me Alice,
you're probably interested in "Evolving English – One Language, Many
Voices". It’s an exhibition at the British Library which includes a whole
section about London English.
Alice: London English - how interesting!
Yvonne: Hmm, I thought so. Now before we continue, Alice - I've got a tricky little
question for you! Are you ready?
Alice: I am.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: OK - in August of 2009, a business decided to officially recognise the Cockney
language by delivering its services using Cockney rhyming slang for three
months. Now can you guess what type of business it was?
a) a hotel
b) a restaurant or
c) a financial business
Alice: Oh, I'm going to guess 'a restaurant', you know, maybe something like a fish
and chips restaurant?
Yvonne: Hmm, that's a nice answer. But as usual, you'll just have to wait until later on to
find out the correct answer! Now the exhibition at the British Library tells us
about the 1500 year history of the English language, as used by people around
the world. And of course, there's information about the Cockney dialect in the
section on London English too.
Alice: Oh that's really good.
Yvonne: Mm. Now if I say, "Hello me ole china" – am I being rude, Alice?
Alice: Oh, no - not at all, that's quite friendly. You're using Cockney rhyming slang to
say: "Hello my old mate - my old friend". So in Cockney rhyming slang, a
word is replaced by another word or phrase that rhymes with it. So here,
"china" from "a china plate" is used instead of "mate". Hello me ole china!
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: OK, Cockney rhyming slang was, and is still sometimes used in the East End
of London, mainly by working people. It’s changed over the years. So let’s
hear from the exhibition’s curator, Johnny Robinson:
Insert 1: BBC Radio London
In London today, we do still hear that traditional Cockney that's been around for a long
time, but also we get British Asian English speakers, London Jamaican speakers. And so
that's been going on for, you know, a thousand years – people coming into contact with
each other and gradually changing the sounds and the words and the vocabulary that we
hear.
Yvonne: So people of Asian and of Jamaican descent, for example, speak their own
versions of London English, including Cockney. And as they’ve come into
contact with people who speak traditional Cockney, it’s changed.
Alice: That's right - as people immigrate to London, they influence the sounds, the
words, the vocabulary that we hear. But of course, as people who speak
traditional Cockney move out of London, they also take that language with
them.
Yvonne: So, we can also hear it outside the East End of London too. You know what
Alice, I think of Cockney rhyming slang as a sort of code. When I was a child,
adults would speak it around me in Hackney because they didn’t want me to
know what they were saying.
Alice: What a good idea! And it’s said that working-class people in the East End of
London started speaking it because they didn’t want the ruling-class to
understand their conversations.
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: That's right. Now I’d also say that Cockney rhyming slang gives East Enders a
strong sense of identity, just like any other language.
Alice: That’s true. If we hear someone speaking Cockney or Cockney rhyming slang,
we immediately know they've got roots in the East End.
Yvonne: That's true. OK, here’s a treat! Let’s hear Paul Ross from BBC Radio London’s
Breakfast Show reading out a message from a listener. But, it’s all in Cockney
rhyming slang. How much will we understand?
Insert 2: BBC Radio London
"Morning Gaby and Paul", says Ian on the Dartford Crossing, "Woke up this morning,
had a jimmy, had a dig in the grave, cleaned me corned beef, put on me trousers, put me
wallet in me sky, came down the apples and pears, got in mi jam jar and I'm now on me
way to work - or in my case" says Ian, "shirk".
Yvonne: Ooh, so what have you got for us, Alice?
Alice: Well, Ian from Dartford Crossing said: "had a dig in the grave" – "grave" -
shave. So he shaved when he woke up.
Yvonne: Ian also "cleaned his corned beef". Did you get that one, Alice?
Alice: Yeah – "he cleaned his corned beef" – so that's cleaning his teeth.
Yvonne: Excellent! Shall we hear the last part of that again? It's quite fast.
Alice: Yeah.
Insert 3: BBC Radio London
"… came down the apples and pears, got in me jam jar and I'm now on me way to work
– or in my case" says Ian, "shirk".
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010
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Yvonne: He "came down the apple and pears" – meaning "stairs".
Alice: And then he got into his "jam jar" – his car - he got into his car.
Yvonne: Now before we go, it’s time for the answer to today’s question. Earlier, I told
you that in August of 2009, a business decided to officially recognise the
Cockney language. And it did this by delivering its services using Cockney
rhyming slang for three months. But, what type of business was it, Alice?
Alice: I thought it might be a restaurant selling something like fish and chips.
Yvonne: Good idea. But no, it was actually the financial institution.
Alice: Oh, how bizarre! Why?
Yvonne: Well, they did it via their cash machines and they thought it would be fun if it
asked you: "please enter your Huckleberry Finn".
Alice: Ha, ha, "Huckleberry Finn" – pin!
Yvonne: Exactly. Anyway, we do hope you’ve had fun with us today on "6 Minute
English" and that you’ll join us again soon.
