middle-class rhyming slang: Charles and Camilla: VILLA

Charles and Camilla: VILLA

- Well, you must go and stay at the Charles we stay at in Lombardy every summer. The local produce is divine and the peasants are very friendly. Last time we went, they left us a punnet of horse cakes on the doorstep.

- Horse cakes?

- That's what the cleaning woman called them. Sort of a local biscuit, I think. Flat, quite... earthy, and very fibrous.

What is Middle-Class Rhyming Slang?

Middle-Class Rhyming Slang is a secret language, believed to have developed in the mid-19th century by couples viewing suburban properties. By hiding their communications in rhyming code, prospective buyers could discuss the merits of a property without the estate agent hearing. The slang grew from these humble beginnings to cover other aspects of life such as commuting and going to the garden centre. And just as the users of the more famous Cockney rhyming slang are born within earshot of London’s Bow Bells, a bona fide user of Middle-Class Rhyming Slang must live within earshot of a TV that regularly plays the dada, dada, dada-dada bit of ‘Countdown’. I was fortunate enough to live in Muswell Hill for several years and sometimes heard the language on a daily basis. I have made the decision to record it here as a resource for future generations.

middle-class rhyming slang

Charles and Camilla: VILLA

"Nursery places - GO!"

What is Middle-Class Rhyming Slang?

Slang Loft (just converted!)

Some absolutely Isuzu links...