Britishisms and Cockney Slang

American cloth – oil cloth blackguard – coarse, scamp, scoundrel (a reference to the devil’s bodyguard) blokes – fellows, guys, John Q. Public, not applied to friends or acquaintances corker – that which closes or puts an end to an action, specifically a lie (a whopper), anything unusually large or of first-rate quality, remarkable in some way, a person or thing of exceptional qualities, anything astonishing counting house – house or room where accounting records are kept doss – bed or lodging fly (adj.) – sharp, crafty, streetwise, a little bit dishonest gorspelling – preaching guy – a sight, a caution, a comic bird, a figure of fun (after Guy Fawkes) humbug (verb) – swindle, cajole, play a hoax on judy – a girl, especially one of loose morals, also a sweetheart knackers – horse slaughterer list slippers - cloth overshoe to prevent friction between shoe and floor my ownest - superlative form of "my own" palsy mag – term of insult, an old fool pluck up – to gather or summon up, as in courage scullery – room for washing dishes shant – contraction of shall not sky-blue – thin or watery milk having a bluish tint, also gin Snobby’s a carpenter – "snob" is Cockney slang for a cobbler or shoemaker soaker - drunkard stalls at fashionable theatres – orchestra seats tall hat – top hat tinpot – shoddy or worthless tosh – nonsense, drivel treacle – golden molasses tuck in – dig in, put on the feedbag, eat hearty uppish – uppity, proud, arrogant waistcoat - vest whelp – an impudent young boy, an unlicked cub or puppy

The distinctive accent of upper-crust Britain is in danger of extinction, neglected by its owners and threatened by rougher accents off the streets. Once upon a time, English people aspired to speak "posh." It was the voice of the people in power—lawyers, politicians, Establishment types. Now there are plenty of people who would be ashamed to speak like that because a posh voice is seen as unfashionable. Not even actors at the Royal Shakespeare Company have to speak Received Pronunciation (RP), or the educated English accent, which seems to be on the wane after 400 years of cultural dominance.

First identified by name in 1869, RP was standardized in the English public schools in the 19th century, but it began in the 16th century as a court-based variant on the London speech of the day. Traditional RP is spoken today by only some 3% of the British population: it is much more popular with the 1.5 billion speakers of English abroad - which is why the "best" English is sometimes said to be spoken in Calcutta. Some commentators fear that if RP dies, British culture will go with it.

RP is no longer the language of a "tight little Establishment group" that was ideally suited for the task of separating Us from Them, or the tribal dialect of an inward-looking social group who needed to command but rarely to mix. Times have changed, but accents still characterize a person, often unfairly. Those with pronounced regional accents have always experienced that sort of prejudice. RP thrived because it was the language of the dominant class: the language of footballers, Spice Girls and DJs may succeed for the same reasons.

Shaw wrote out all of the play’s dialogue in standard English, and then he "translated" the lines spoken by Bill Walker into a phonetic Cockney dialect.

"I want nan o your kentin jawr. I spowse you think Aw cam eah to beg from you, like this demmiged lot eah. Not me. Aw downt want your bread and script and ketlep."

"Aw’m eppy enaff, Aw tell you. Woy warnt you lea me alown? Wot ev I dan to you? Aw ain’t smashed your fice, ev Aw?"

"Wot d’ye mean? Woy ain’t Aw got a awt the sime as ennybody else?"

"Awve aony ed to stend it for a mawnin: e’ll ev to stend it for a lawftawm."

"Aw didn’t awst you. Cawnt you never keep your mahth shut? Oy awst the genlmn."

"All Aw got be it was being mide a sawt of in the public street for me pines."

"But thets aw rawt, you knaow. Nathink pasnl. Naow mellice. Sao long,