Polari () is a form of

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

cant Cant, CANT, canting, or canted may refer to: Language * Cant (language), a secret language * Beurla Reagaird, a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers * Scottish Cant, a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers * Shelta or the Cant, a la ...

used in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

by some actors, circus and fairground showmen,

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

s, merchant navy sailors,

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...

s and the

gay subculture Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures are subcultures and communities composed of people who have shared experiences, backgrounds, or interests due to common sexual or gender identities. Among the first to argue that members of sexual mi ...

. There is some debate about its origins, but it can be traced back to at least the 19th century and possibly as far as the 16th century. There is a long-standing connection with

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character w ...

street puppet performers, who traditionally used Polari to converse.

Terminology

Alternate spellings include ''Parlare'', ''Parlary'', ''Palare'', ''Palarie'' and ''Palari''.

Description

Polari is a mixture of Romance (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

British Spies: Licensed to be Gay
" ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

''. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2018. or

Mediterranean Lingua Franca The Mediterranean Lingua Franca, or Sabir, was a pidgin language that was used as a lingua franca in the Mediterranean Basin from the 11th to the 19th centuries. Etymology ''Lingua franca'' meant literally "Frankish language" in Late Latin, a ...

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...

, sailor slang and

thieves' cant Thieves' cant (also known as thieves' argot, rogues' cant, or peddler's French) is a cant, cryptolect, or argot which was formerly used by thieves, beggars, and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain and to a lesser extent in other English- ...

. Later it expanded to contain words from the

Yiddish language Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

and from 1960s

drug subculture Drug cultures are examples of countercultures that are primarily defined by spiritual, medical, and recreational drug use. They may be focused on a single drug, or endorse polydrug use. They sometimes eagerly or reluctantly initiate newcomers, ...

slang. It was a constantly developing form of language, with a small core lexicon of about 20 words, including: ' (good), ' (nearby), ' (face), ' (bad, in the sense of tacky or vile), ' (bad, in the sense of drab or dull, though borrowed into mainstream British English with the sense of the aforementioned '), ' (room, house, flat, i.e. room to let), ' (not, no), ' (man), ' (woman), ' (hair), ' or ' (smarten up, stylise), ' ("to be had", sexually accessible), ' (sex) and ' (see), and over 500 other lesser-known words. According to a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television documentary, there was once (in London) an "

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

" version which stressed Cockney rhyming slang and a " West End" version which stressed theatrical and Classical influences. There was some interchange between the two.

Usage

From the 19th century on, Polari was used in London fishmarkets, the theatre, fairgrounds and circuses, hence the many borrowings from

. As many homosexual men worked in theatrical entertainment it was also used among the gay subculture, at a time when homosexual activity was illegal, to disguise homosexuals from hostile outsiders and

undercover police To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

men. It was also used extensively in the British Merchant Navy, where many gay men joined

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

s and

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

s as waiters, stewards and entertainers.

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

used the term ''bona'' (good, attractive) in '' Henry IV, Part 2'', part of the expression ''bona roba'' (a lady wearing an attractive outfit). However, "there's little written evidence of Polari before the 1890s", according to

Peter Gilliver Peter Gilliver (born 14 June 1964) is a lexicographer and associate editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. Career Gilliver's parents were both linguists. He attended Barnard Castle School, and has a degree in Mathematics from Jesus College, ...

, associate editor of the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. The dictionary's entry for rozzer (policeman), for example, includes this quote from an 1893 book (P. H. Emerson's ''Signor Lippo – Burnt Cork Artiste''): "If the rozzers was to see him in bona clobber they'd take him for a gun." (If the police were to see him dressed in this fine manner, they would know that he is a thief.) The almost identical ''Parlyaree'' has been spoken in fairgrounds since at least the 17th century and continues to be used by show travellers in England and Scotland. As theatrical booths, circus acts and menageries were once a common part of European fairs, it is likely that the roots of Polari/Parlyaree lie in the period before both theatre and circus became independent of the fairgrounds. The Parlyaree spoken on fairgrounds tends to borrow much more from Romani, as well as other languages and

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argot ...

s spoken by travelling people, such as

and

backslang Back slang is an English coded language in which the written word is spoken phonemically backwards. Usage Back slang is thought to have originated in Victorian England. It was used mainly by market sellers, such as butchers and greengrocers, f ...

Henry Mayhew Henry Mayhew (25 November 1812 – 25 July 1887) was an English journalist, playwright, and advocate of reform. He was one of the co-founders of the satirical magazine ''Punch'' in 1841, and was the magazine's joint editor, with Mark Lemon, in ...

gave a verbatim account of Polari as part of an interview with a

showman in the 1850s. The discussion he recorded references the arrival of Punch in England, crediting these early shows to a performer from Italy called Porcini (

John Payne Collier John Payne Collier (11 January 1789, London – 17 September 1883, Maidenhead) was an English Shakespearean critic and forger. Reporter and solicitor His father, John Dyer Collier (1762–1825), was a successful journalist, and his connection ...

's account calls him Porchini, a literal rendering of the Italian pronunciation). Mayhew provides the following: There are additional accounts of particular words that relate to puppet performance: "'' – figures, frame, scenes, properties. '' – call, or unknown tongue" ("unknown" is a reference to the " swazzle", a voice modifier used by Punch performers, the structure of which was a longstanding trade secret).

Decline

Polari had begun to fall into disuse amongst the gay subculture by the late 1960s. The popularity of

Julian and Sandy Julian and Sandy were characters on the BBC radio comedy programme ''Round the Horne'' from 1965 to 1968 and were played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams respectively, with scripts written by Barry Took and Marty Feldman. According to a BBC R ...

, played by

Hugh Paddick Hugh William Paddick (22 August 1915 – 9 November 2000) was an English actor. He starred in the 1960s BBC radio show ''Round the Horne'', performing in sketches such as "Charles and Fiona" (as Charles) and " Julian and Sandy" (as Julian). He a ...

and

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...

(introduced in the radio programme ''

Round the Horne ''Round the Horne'' is a BBC Radio comedy programme starring Kenneth Horne, first transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The show was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the first three series. The fo ...

'', in the 1960s) ensured that some of this secret language became public knowledge. The need for a secret subculture code declined with the partial decriminalisation of adult homosexual acts in England and Wales under the

Sexual Offences Act 1967 The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1967 c. 60). It legalised homosexual acts in England and Wales, on the condition that they were consensual, in private and between two men who had attained t ...

Entry into mainstream slang

A number of words from Polari have entered mainstream slang. The list below includes words in general use with the meanings listed: ''acdc'', ''barney'', ''blag'', ''butch'', ''camp'', ''khazi'', ''cottaging'', ''hoofer'', ''mince'', ''ogle'', ''scarper'', ''slap'', ''strides'', ''tod'', ''

ough Ough may refer to: * Ough (orthography) ''Ough'' is a four-letter sequence, a tetragraph, used in English orthography and notorious for its unpredictable pronunciation.Adam Brown, ''Understanding and Teaching English Spelling: A Strategic Guide' ...

trade''. The Polari word ', meaning inferior or tacky, has an uncertain etymology.

Michael Quinion Michael Quinion (born c. 1943) is a British etymologist and writer. He ran World Wide Words, a website devoted to linguistics. He graduated from Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he studied physical sciences and after which he joined BBC radio as a ...

states that it is probably from the sixteenth-century Italian word ', meaning "a despicable person". There are a number of

false etymologies A false etymology (fake etymology, popular etymology, etymythology, pseudo-etymology, or par(a)etymology) is a popular but false belief about the origin or derivation of a specific word. It is sometimes called a folk etymology, but this is also a ...

, many based on acronyms—"Not Available For Fucking", "Normal As Fuck", etc.—though these are

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

s. The phrase "naff off" was used

euphemistically A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...

in place of "fuck off" along with the

intensifier In linguistics, an intensifier (abbreviated ) is a lexical category (but ''not'' a traditional part of speech) for a modifier that makes no contribution to the propositional meaning of a clause but serves to enhance and give additional emotional co ...

"naffing" in '' Billy Liar'' by

Keith Waterhouse Keith Spencer Waterhouse (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist and the writer of many television series. Biography Keith Waterhouse was born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. H ...

(1959). ''p35'' "Naff off, Stamp, for Christ sake!" ''p46'' "Well which one of them's got the naffing engagement ring?" Usage of "naff" increased in the 1970s when the

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

'' employed it as an alternative to expletives which were not considered broadcastable at the time.

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

allegedly famously told a reporter, "Why don't you just naff off" at the Badminton horse trials in April 1982, but it has since been claimed that this was a bowdlerised version of what she actually said. "" (, or ), meaning to smarten up, style or improve something, became commonplace in the mid-2000s, having been used in the 2003 United States TV series ''

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ''Queer Eye'' is an American reality television series that premiered on the cable television network Bravo in July 2003. Originally ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'', the title was later shortened to broaden the overall scope. The series was cr ...

'' and '' What Not to Wear''. "", an alternate spelling of the word, was popularised by drag queen

Jasmine Masters Martell Robinson (born October 16, 1976), known by the stage name Jasmine Masters, is an American drag queen, internet celebrity, YouTuber, and stand-up comedian. He is best known for competing on the seventh season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' an ...

after her appearance on the seventh season of

RuPaul’s Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the fi ...

in 2015.

In popular culture

* James Thomson added a glossary of words he thought "obsolete" in his 1825 work ''The Seasons and Castle of Indolence''. He chose to write "

Castle of Indolence ''The Castle of Indolence'' is a poem written by James Thomson, a Scottish poet of the 18th century, in 1748. According to the Nuttall Encyclopedia, the Castle of Indolence is ''"a place in which the dwellers live amid luxurious delights, to ...

" "In the manner of

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...

". Two words he by then thought needed explaining were: "Eke", meaning "also", pronounced like Polari's "Eek", (face); and "Gear or Geer", meaning "furniture, equipage, dress". This last usage being maintained to this day in slang, and being then-contemporary, too, by 1960s Polari-users, avoiding Thomson's stated complete obsolescence. * Polari ('Polare') was popularised in the 1960s on the popular BBC radio show ''

'' starring

Kenneth Horne Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne, (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969) was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh ...

Camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

Polari-speaking characters

were played by

and

. * In the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' serial ''

Carnival of Monsters ''Carnival of Monsters'' is the second serial of the tenth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 27 January to 17 February 1973. In the serial, set ...

'' from 1973, Vorg, a showman, believing the Doctor to also be a showman, attempts to converse with him in Polari. The Doctor states that he does not understand him. * In 1987, character Ralph Filthy, a

theatrical agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or s ...

played by

Nigel Planer Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, comedian, musician, novelist and playwright. He played Neil in the BBC comedy '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in ''Filthy Rich & Catflap''. He has appeared in many West End mu ...

in the BBC TV series ''

Filthy Rich & Catflap ''Filthy Rich & Catflap'' is a BBC sitcom produced in 1986 and broadcast in 1987. The series featured former '' The Young Ones'' co-stars Nigel Planer, Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as its three title characters. It was written by Ben Elton ...

'', regularly used Polari. * In 1990,

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

released the single "

Piccadilly Palare "Piccadilly Palare" is song by British singer Morrissey, released as a single in October 1990. The song features one of Morrissey's former colleagues from the Smiths, Andy Rourke, marking the last time any former member of the Smiths would colla ...

" containing a number of lyrics in Polari and exploring a subculture in which Polari was used. "Piccadilly Palare" is also the first song appearing on Morrissey's compilation album ''

Bona Drag ''Bona Drag'' is a compilation album by Morrissey released on 15 October 1990. The album features an array of Morrissey's most popular songs from his early solo career, most of which had not been released on any previous album. The album name m ...

'', whose title is itself taken from Polari. * In 1990, in Issue #35 of Grant Morrison's run of ''

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appe ...

'', the character Danny the Street is introduced; they speak English that is heavily flavored with Polari, with "bona to vada" ("good to see ou) being their favourite way of greeting friends. * In the 1998 film ''

Velvet Goldmine ''Velvet Goldmine'' is a 1998 musical drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes from a story by Haynes and James Lyons. It is set in Britain during the glam rock days of the early 1970s, and tells the story of fictional bisexual pop star ...

'', two characters speak Polari while in a London nightclub. This scene contains subtitles for viewers not familiar with the language. *In 2002, two books on Polari were published, ''Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men'' and ''Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang'', both by Paul Baker. * In 2015, filmmakers Brian Fairbairn and Karl Eccleston made ''Putting on the Dish'', a short film entirely in Polari. * The 2016

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

album ''

Blackstar ''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of '' ...

'' contains a song, "

Girl Loves Me "Girl Loves Me" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It is the fifth track on Bowie's twenty-sixth and final studio album, '' Blackstar'', released on 8 January 2016. The track was written by Bowie and produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti. " ...

", which utilises Polari. * In 2017, a service at

Westcott House, Cambridge Westcott House is an Anglican theological college based on Jesus Lane in the centre of the university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.Westcott House website, Home pag Retrieved on August 27, 2006. Its main activity is training people for ...

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

) was conducted in Polari; the service was held by trainee priests to commemorate

LGBT History Month LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodn ...

; following media attention,

Chris Chivers Christopher Mark "Chris" Chivers (born 16 July 1967) is an Anglican priest, composer, and author. From 2015 until 2019, he was the Principal of Westcott House, Cambridge, an Anglican theological college in the Liberal Catholic tradition. Ear ...

, the Principal, expressed his regret. * In the 2017 EP ''Ricky'', gay singer Sakima used Polari. * In 2019, the first-ever opera in Polari, ''

The Sins of the Cities of the Plain ''The Sins of the Cities of the Plain; or, The Recollections of a Mary-Ann, with Short Essays on Sodomy and Tribadism'', by the pseudonymous " Jack Saul", is one of the first exclusively homosexual works of pornographic literature published in E ...

'' (based on the book of the same title), premiered at Espacio Turina in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, Spain. The

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

was entirely written in Polari by librettist and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Fabrizio Funari (b. 1991) while the music was composed by Germán Alonso (b. 1984) with cantaor Niño de Elche (b. 1985) in the main role. The opera was produced and performed by instrumental ensemble Proyecto OCNOS, formed by Pedro Rojas-Ogáyar and Gustavo A. Domínguez Ojalvo, with the support of ICAS Sevilla, Fundación BBVA and The Librettist. * The same year, the English-language localisation of the Japanese video game ''

Dragon Quest Builders 2 ''Dragon Quest Builders 2'' is an action role-playing sandbox game developed by Square Enix and Omega Force, with Square Enix publishing it. It is the sequel to ''Dragon Quest Builders'', and was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 i ...

'' included a character called Jules, who spoke in Polari with non-standard capitalisation. * Also in 2019,

Reaktion Books Reaktion Books is an independent book publisher based in Islington, London, England. It was founded in 1985 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and moved to London in 1987. Reaktion originally focused on the fields of art, architecture, and design. In recen ...

published ''Fabulosa!: The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language,'' by Paul Baker. * In the 2020 film '' Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse'', a young

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

, running away from home, meets a man (played by Bill Bailey) who speaks in Polari.

Glossary

Numbers: Some words or phrases that may derive from Polari (this is an incomplete list):

Usage examples

''Omies and palones of the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

, vada well at the eek of the poor ome who stands before you, his lallies trembling.'' – taken from "Bona Law", one of the

sketches from ''

Round The Horne ''Round the Horne'' is a BBC Radio comedy programme starring Kenneth Horne, first transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The show was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the first three series. The fo ...

'', written by

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series ''Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Horn ...

and

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his exophthalmos, prominent, strabismus, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on ...

:Translation: "Men and women of the jury, look well at the face of the poor man who stands before you, his legs trembling." ''So bona to vada...oh you! Your lovely eek and your lovely riah.'' – taken from "Piccadilly Palare", a song by

:Translation: "So good to see...oh you! Your lovely face and your lovely hair." ''As feely ommes...we would zhoosh our riah, powder our eeks, climb into our bona new drag, don our batts and troll off to some bona bijou bar. In the bar we would stand around with our sisters, vada the bona cartes on the butch omme ajax who, if we fluttered our ogle riahs at him sweetly, might just troll over to offer a light for the unlit vogue clenched between our teeth.'' – taken from ''Parallel Lives'', the memoirs of renowned gay journalist Peter Burton :Translation: "As young men...we would style our hair, powder our faces, climb into our great new clothes, don our shoes and wander/walk off to some great little bar. In the bar we would stand around with our gay companions, look at the great genitals on the butch man nearby who, if we fluttered our eyelashes at him sweetly, might just wander/walk over to offer a light for the unlit

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

clenched between our teeth." In the ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...

'' episode "The Old Order Changes", Captain Peacock asks Mr Humphries to get "some strides for the omi with the naff riah" (i.e. trousers for the fellow with the unstylish hair).

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Chris Denning's article on Polari with bibliography

The Polari Bible compiled by The Manchester Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

Polari Mission exhibit
(archived) at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...

Colin Richardson, ''The Guardian'', 17 January 2005, "What brings you trolling back, then?"

Liverpool Museums: The secret language of polari
(archived)
Paul Clevett's Polari Translator
* ''Putting it on the Dish'', a 2015 short film featuring Polari extensively
A brief history of Polari: the curious after-life of the dead language for gay men
February 8, 2017. {{Use British English, date=December 2020 English language in England English-based argots English language in London British slang LGBT linguistics LGBT culture in the United Kingdom Gay working-class culture