I've recently been reading a number of works by the magnificent English poet/writer Jeremy Reed and combined with a recent spell of listening to Julian and Sandy's exploits on 'Round the Horne', I've been finding Palare creeping back into my lexicon.
According to Wikipedia Palare (or alternatively Parlare, Parlary, Palori, Palarie, Palari; from Italian parlare, "to talk") is a form of cant slang used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, merchant navy sailors, criminals, prostitutes and the gay subculture. It was popularised in the 1960s by camp characters Julian and Sandy in the popular BBC radio show Round the Horne. There is some debate about its origins, but it can be traced back to at least the 19th century and possibly the 16th century. There is a longstanding connection with Punch and Judy street puppet performers who traditionally used Polari to converse
Be that as it may, here are some bona palare phrases for your perusal...
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| ajax | nearby (from adjacent?) |
| alamo | hot for you/him |
| aunt nell | listen, hear |
| aunt nells | ears |
| aunt nelly fakes | earrings |
| aunt nell danglers | earrings |
| barney | a fight |
| basket | the bulge of male genitals through clothes |
| batts | shoes |
| bibi | bisexual |
| bitch | effeminate or passive gay man |
| bijou | small/little (means "jewel" in French) |
| blag | pick up |
| blue | code word for "homosexual" |
| bod | body |
| bona | good |
| bona nochy | goodnight (from Italian - buona notte) |
| bonaroo | wonderful, excellent |
| bungery | pub, this comes from the English word for the closure on a barrel. |
| butch | masculine; masculine lesbian |
| buvare | a drink (from Italian - bere or old-fashioned Italian - bevere or Lingua Francabevire) |
| cackle | talk/gossip |
| camp | effeminate (possibly from Italian campare "exaggerate, make stand out") |
| capello/capella | hat (from Italian - cappello) |
| carsey | toilet, also spelt khazi |
| carts/cartso | penis (from Italian - cazzo) |
| cats | trousers |
| charper | to search (from Italian - acchiappare - to catch) |
| charpering omi | policeman |
| charver | to shag/a shag (sexual intercourse) (from Italian - chiavare) |
| chicken | young man |
| clobber | clothes |
| cod | naff, vile |
| cottage | a public lavatory used for sexual encounters |
| cottaging | seeking or obtaining sexual encounters in public lavatories |
| cove | friend |
| crimper | hairdresser |
| dally | sweet, kind. Possibly an alternate pronunciation of dolly. |
| dilly boy | a male prostitute |
| dinari | money (Latin denarii was the 'd' of the pre decimal penny) |
| dish | buttocks |
| dolly | pretty, nice, pleasant |
| dona | woman (perhaps from Italian donna or Lingua Franca dona) |
| dorcas | term of endearment, 'one who cares'. The Dorcas Society was a ladies' church association of the nineteenth century, which made clothes for the poor. |
| drag | clothes, esp. women's clothes (prob from Romani — indraka — skirt; also possibly from German - tragen - v. to wear (clothes)) |
| doss | bed |
| ecaf | face (backslang) |
| eek | face (abbreviation of ecaf) |
| ends | hair |
| esong | nose (backslang) |
| fantabulosa | fabulous/wonderful |
| feele/freely/filly | child/young (from the Italian figlio, for son) |
| fruit | queen |
| funt | pound |
| gelt | money (Yiddish) |
| handbag | money |
| hoofer | dancer |
| HP (homy polone) | effeminate gay man |
| jarry | food, also mangarie (from Italian mangiare or Lingua Franca mangiaria) |
| jubes | breasts |
| kaffies | trousers |
| khazi | toilet, also spelt carsey |
| lacoddy | body |
| lallies (lylies) | legs |
| lallie tappers | feet |
| latty/lattie | room, house or flat |
| lills | hands |
| lilly | police (Lilly Law) |
| lyles | legs (prob. from "Lisle stockings") |
| lucoddy | body |
| luppers | fingers (Yiddish — lapa — paw) |
| mangarie | food, also jarry (from Italian mangiare or Lingua Franca mangiaria) |
| martinis | hands |
| measures | money |
| meese | plain, ugly (from Yiddish "meeiskeit, in turn from Hebrew מָאוּס repulsive, loathsome, despicable, abominable) |
| meshigener | nutty, crazy, mental (from Yiddish, in turn from Hebrew מְשֻׁגָּע crazy) |
| metzas | money (Italian -mezzi "means, wherewithal") |
| mince | walk (affectedly) |
| naff | awful, dull, hetero |
| nanti | not, no, none (Italian — niente) |
| national handbag | dole, welfare, government financial assistance |
| ogle | look, admire |
| ogles | eyes |
| oglefakes | glasses |
| omi | man (from Romance) |
| omi-palone | effeminate man, or homosexual |
| onk | nose (cf "conk") |
| orbs | eyes |
| palare pipe | telephone ("talk pipe") |
| palliass | back |
| park, parker | give |
| plate | feet; to fellate |
| palone | woman (Italian paglione - "straw mattress", [viz. old Cant "hay-bag" = woman]) |
| palone-omi | lesbian |
| pots | teeth |
| remould | sex change |
| riah/riha | hair (backslang) |
| riah zhoosher | hairdresser |
| rough trade | a working class or blue collar sex partner or potential sex partner; a tough, thuggish or potentially violent sex partner |
| scarper | to run off (from Italian scappare, to escape or run away or from rhyming slang Scapa Flow, to go) |
| schlumph | drink |
| scotch | leg (scotch egg=leg) |
| screech | mouth, speak |
| sharpy | policeman (from — charpering omi) |
| sharpy polone | policewoman |
| shush | steal (from client) |
| shush bag | hold-all |
| shyker/shyckle | wig (mutation of the Yiddish sheitel) |
| slap | makeup |
| so | homosexual (e.g. "Is he 'so'?") |
| stimps | legs |
| stimpcovers | stockings, hosiery |
| strides | trousers |
| strillers | piano |
| switch | wig |
| thews | thighs |
| tober | road (a Shelta word, Irish bóthar) |
| todd (Sloanne) | alone |
| tootsie trade | sex between two passive homosexuals (as in: 'I don't do tootsie trade') |
| trade | sex, sex-partner, potential sex-partner |
| troll | to walk about (esp. looking for trade) |
| vada/varder | to see (from Italian — dialect vardare = guardare - look at)
vardered — vardering
|
| vera (lynn) | gin |
| vogue | cigarette (from Lingua Franca — fogus - "fire, smoke") |
| vogueress | female smoker |
| willets | breasts |
| yews | (from French "yeux") eyes |
| zhoosh | style hair, tart up, mince (Romani - "zhouzho" - clean, neat)
zhoosh our riah — style our hair
|
| zhooshy | showy |
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