Polari Palare, Parlary, Palarie, Palari, Parlyaree
Spoken in:	United Kingdom and Ireland
Total speakers:	no estimate available
Language family:	based English, Italian and Romany with variations
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	mis
ISO 639-3:	pld
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's

Polari (or alternatively Parlare, Parlary, Palarie, Palari, Parlyaree,^[1] from Italian parlare, "to talk") was a form of cant slang used in the gay subculture in Britain. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Cant is an example of an Argot or cryptolect a characteristic or secret language used only by members of a group often used to conceal the meaning from those outside the group Slang is the use of highly informal Words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's Dialect or Language. In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located It was revived in the 1950s and 1960s by its use by camp characters Julian and Sandy in the popular BBC radio show Round the Horne, but its origins can be traced back to at least the 19th century. Julian and Sandy were characters on the BBC Radio programme Round the Horne, played respectively by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Round the Horne was one of the most influential BBC Radio Comedy programmes comparable to The Goon Show in its influence on other There is some debate about how it originated. ^[2]

Contents 1 Description 2 Usage 3 Decline in use 4 Contemporary usage 5 Entry into standard English 5.1 Naff 5.2 Zhoosh 5.3 Cottaging 5.4 Balonie 5.5 Bevvy 6 Polari glossary 7 Polari in use 8 Is Polari a language? 9 See also 10 Bibliography 11 References 12 External links

Description

Polari is a mixture of Romance (Italian or Mediterranean Lingua Franca), Romany, backslang, rhyming slang, sailor slang, and thieves' cant. The Lingua franca of the Mediterranean or Sabir ("know" was a Pidgin language used as a Lingua franca in the Mediterranean Basin from Back slang is an English coded language in which the written word is spoken phonetically backwards Rhyming slang is a form of Slang in which a word is replaced either by another word or phrase that rhymes with it or by the first word of such a phrase in which Thieves' cant was a secret language (a cant or cryptolect) which was formerly used by thieves beggars and hustlers of various kinds in Great Britain Later it expanded to contain words from the Yiddish language of the Jewish subculture which settled in the East End of London, the US forces (present in the UK during World War II) and 1960s drug users. Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ It was a constantly developing form of language, with a small core lexicon of about 20 words (including bona, ajax, eek, cod, naff, lattie, nanti, omi, palone, riah, zhoosh, TBH, trade, vada), with over 500 other lesser-known items. ^[3]

Usage

Polari was used in London fishmarkets, the theatre, and the gay subculture. Poliamory pride in San Francisco 2004jpg|thumb|Representatives of the Polyamory community at a San Francisco parade As Polari, it was used to disguise homosexual activity from potentially hostile outsiders (such as undercover policemen), but also because many gay men worked in theatrical entertainment where the lingo originated (including fairgrounds and circuses, hence the many borrowings from Romani in Polari). The almost identical Parlyaree has been spoken in fairgrounds since at least the 17th century^[4] 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 argots spoken by travelling people, such as cant and backslang. Cant is an example of an Argot or cryptolect a characteristic or secret language used only by members of a group often used to conceal the meaning from those outside the group Back slang is an English coded language in which the written word is spoken phonetically backwards

It was also used extensively in the Merchant Navy, where many gay men joined cruise ships as waiters, stewards and entertainers. A cruise ship or cruise liner is a Passenger ship used for pleasure voyages where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience

On one hand, it would be used as a means of cover, to allow gay subjects to be discussed aloud without being understood; on the other hand, it was also used by some, particularly the most visibly camp and effeminate, as a further way of asserting their identity.

Decline in use

Outside of fairgrounds and circuses (where Parlyaree was never associated with gay subculture) Polari had begun to fall into disuse by the late 1960s. The popularity of Julian and Sandy ensured that this secret language was public property, and the gay liberationists of the 1970s viewed it as rather degrading, divisive and politically incorrect (a lot of it was used to gossip about or criticise people, as well as discussing sexual exploits). Politically Incorrect was a late-night half-hour political Talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002

Contemporary usage

Since the mid-1990s, with the redistribution of tapes and CDs of Round The Horne and increasing academic interest, Polari underwent a slight revival. Round the Horne was one of the most influential BBC Radio Comedy programmes comparable to The Goon Show in its influence on other It will probably never die out completely, but new words are continually being invented and updated to refer to more recent cultural concepts – for example, the recent term "Madonna claw" means an old withered hand.

In 1990 Morrissey titled an album Bona Drag – Polari for "nice outfit" – and the title of his "Piccadilly Palare" single that same year is an alternative spelling of what would be "Piccadilly Polari. Steven Patrick Morrissey (ˈmɒɹɪsiː born May 22, 1959) known primarily as Morrissey, is a British Singer and Lyricist "

Also in 1990, comic book writer Grant Morrison created the character Danny the Street (based on Danny La Rue), a sentient transvestite street for the comic Doom Patrol. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative Grant Morrison (born January 31 1960 is a Scottish Comic book writer and artist Danny the Street is a Fictional character in the DC Universe. Danny La Rue OBE was born on 26 July[[ 927]] as Daniel Patrick Carroll in County Cork, is an entertainer known for his drag The Doom Patrol is a Fictional Superhero team appearing in publications from DC Comics. Danny speaks largely in Polari.

The 1998 film Velvet Goldmine, which chronicles a fictional retelling of the rise and fall of glam rock, contains a 60s flashback in which a group of characters converse in Polari, while their words are humorously subtitled below. Velvet Goldmine is a 1998 film directed and co-written by Todd Haynes. Glam rock (also known as glitter rock) is a sub-genre of Rock music that developed in the UK in the post- Hippie early 1970s which was "performed by

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). Also in 2002, hip hop artist Juha released an album called Polari, with the chorus of the title song written entirely in the slang. Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a Music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with

Entry into standard English

A great many words from Polari have entered mainstream slang.

Naff

This word became famous in the television sitcom Porridge in the 1970s, which employed it as an alternative to expletives which were not at the time considered broadcastable. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Porridge was a British situation comedy that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1973 to 1977 running for three series two Christmas specials as well as

There are a number of folk etymologies of the term "naff", many based around acronyms – Not Available For Fucking, Normal As Fuck – though these are probably backronyms. Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word a False etymology. A backronym (or bacronym) is a Phrase that is constructed "after the fact" from a previously existing word or Abbreviation, the abbreviation More likely etymologies include northern UK dialect naffhead, naffin, or naffy, a simpleton or blockhead; niffy-naffy, inconsequential, stupid, or Scots nyaff, a term of contempt for any unpleasant or objectionable person. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of An alternative etymology may lie in the Romany naflo, itself rooted in nasvalo, meaning no good, broken, or useless.

A later use, from the 1980s, refers dismissively to heterosexual people. Porridge also introduced a verb sense: "naff off!", later famously used by Princess Anne in 1982 [1].

Zhoosh

"Zhoosh" has entered English more recently, especially through the TV series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Queer Eye is an Emmy award-winning American Reality television series that premiered on the Bravo cable television network on July 15 Its initial consonant, unique in that position in English, has led new users to generate variant spellings such as "zoosh", "soozh", ""tszuj. " etc. The word begins and ends with the same phoneme, the "zh" sound as in the word "measure".

Cottaging

The word cottaging (anonymous sex in a public lavatory) has also entered mainstream English, thanks to some high profile cases. Cottaging is a British Gay slang term referring to anonymous male-male sex in a public Lavatory (a cottage or tea-room) or to the

Balonie

This term for rubbish has not only become common in the UK, but also to a great extent in America (where it is almost always spelled "baloney"), as a euphemism for bullshit. A euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener or in the case of doublespeak Bullshit (also bullcrap, bullplop, or horseshit) is a common English Expletive. For example, "That guy's full of baloney!".

Bevvy

Derived from drink or beverage, has again become common English slang, although it is debatable just how directly related to Polari this is, as "bevvy" is a simple abbreviation of beverage.

Polari glossary

Word	Definition
Name	Polari
other names	Palare, Parlary, Palarie, Palari, Parlyaree
ajax	nearby (from adjacent?)
alamo	hot for you/him
aunt nell	listen, hear
aunt nells	ears
aunt nelly fakes	earrings
balonie	rubbish
basket	the bulge of male genitals through clothes
batts	shoes
bevvy	drink (beverage)
bitch	effeminate or passive gay man
bijou	small/little (means "cute" or "jewel" in French)
blag	pick up
blue	code word for "homosexual"
bod	body
bold	daring
bona	good bona nochy - goodnight (from Italian - buona notte)
bonaroo	wonderful, excellent
bungery	pub
butch	masculine; masculine lesbian
buvare	a drink (from Italian - bere or dialectal Italian - bevere or Lingua Franca bevire
cackle	talk/gossip
camp	effeminate
capello/capella	hat (from Italian - cappello)
carsey	toilet, also spelt khazi
carts/cartso	penis (from Italian - cazzo)
charper	to search
charpering omi	policeman
chaver	to shag/a shag (sexual intercourse) (from Italian dialectal "chiavare"?)
chicken	young boy
clobber	clothes
cod	naff, vile
cottage	public toilet (particularly with reference to cottaging. Bitch is a term for the female of a canine species in general Chicken can be used usually by Gay men referring to other gay men to mean a young gay man or young appearing gay man Cottaging is a British Gay slang term referring to anonymous male-male sex in a public Lavatory (a cottage or tea-room) or to the Early public toilets in the UK were designed to resemble a small house so as to disguise their intended function)
cottaging	having or looking for sex in the above cottage
cove	friend
crimper	hairdresser
dinarly	money (thought to be derived from "Dinari")
dish	butt(ocks)
dog and bone	telephone
dolly	pretty, nice, pleasant
dona	woman (perhaps from Italian donna or Lingua Franca dona)
drag	clothes, esp. Drag in its broadest sense means any clothing one wears however the traditional use of the term is for any Costume or outfit that carries symbolic significance women's clothes
doss	bed
ecaf	face (backslang)
eek	face (abbreviation of ecaf)
ends	hair
esong	nose (backslang)
fantabulosa	fabulous/wonderful
feele/freely/filly	child/young
fruit	queen
funt	pound
gelt	money (Yiddish)
glossies	magazines
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	legs
latty/lattie	room, house or flat
lills	hands
lilly	police (Lilly Law)
lyles	legs
lucoddy	body
luppers	fingers
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
mince	walk (affectedly)
naff	awful, dull, hetero
nanti	not, no, none
national handbag	dole, welfare, government financial assistance
nishta	nothing, no (from Yiddish נישטא - "there isn't")
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	give
plate	feet; to fellate
palone	woman
palone-omi	lesbian
pots	teeth
remould	sex change
riah/riha	hair (backslang)
riah zhoosher	hairdresser
scarper	to run off (from Italian scappare, to escape or run away or from rhyming slang Scarpa Flow, to go)
schlumph	drink
schmutter	clothes
scotch	leg (scotch egg=leg)
screech	mouth, speak
sharpy	policeman
sharpy polone	policewoman
shush	steal (from client)
shush bag	hold-all
shyker/shyckle	wig (mutation of the Yiddish sheitel)
slap	makeup
so	homosexual (e. Fruit and Fruit cake (as well as many variations are Slang terms which have various origins but modern usages tend to Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High A gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with Males or Females in a given social group or system Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High Staring (or gorping) - a prolonged gaze or fixed look In staring one object or person is the continual focus of visual interest for an amount of time Sheitel ( שייטל, sheytl msg שייטלעך, sheytlekh mpl g. "Is he 'so'?")
stimps	legs
stimpcovers	stockings, hosiery
strides	trousers
strillers	piano
switch	wig
thews	thighs
tober	road
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. Trade refers to the (usually casual partner of a gay man or to the genre of such partners Troll and trolling are slang terms used almost exclusively amongst Gay men to characterize gay Bisexual and questioning or Bi-curious looking for trade)
vada/varder	to see (from Italian - vedere) vardered - vardering
vera (lynn)	gin
vogue	cigarette
vogueress	woman smoker
willets	breasts
yews	(from French "yeux") eyes
zhoosh	style hair, tart up, mince zhoosh our riah - style our hair
zhooshy	showy

Polari in use

"Omies and palones of the jury, vada well at the eek of the poor ome who stands before you, his lallies trembling. A jury a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial Verdict (a finding of fact on a question officially submitted to them " (Taken from "Bona Law", a sketch from Round The Horne, written by Barry Took and Marty Feldman)

(Translation: "Men and women of the jury, look well at the face of the poor man who stands before you, his legs trembling. Round the Horne was one of the most influential BBC Radio Comedy programmes comparable to The Goon Show in its influence on other Barry Took ( 19 June 1928 &ndash 31 March 2002) was an English Comedian, Writer Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman ( 8 July 1934 &ndash 2 December 1982) was an English writer comedian and Actor, ")

"So bona to vada. . . oh you! Your lovely eek and your lovely riah. " (Taken from "Piccadilly Palare", a song by musician Morrissey)

(Translation: "So good to see. Steven Patrick Morrissey (ˈmɒɹɪsiː born May 22, 1959) known primarily as Morrissey, is a British Singer and Lyricist . . 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 the memoirs of renowned gay journalist Peter Burton, Parallel Lives)

(Translation: "As young men. . . we would style our hair, powder our faces, climb into our fabulous new clothes, don our shoes and wander/walk off to some fabulous little bar. In the bar we would stand around with our gay companions, look at the fabulous 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 clenched between our teeth. A cigarette ( French "small Cigar " from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through Smoking and manufactured ")

Is Polari a language?

Careful search and enquiry has failed to find any grammatical structures of Polari that are different from those of English. Therefore it would seem more accurate to refer to Polari as a linguistic cipher, replacement lexicon or an argot than a language or dialect. In Cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an Algorithm for performing Encryption and Decryption &mdash a series of well-defined steps In Linguistics, the lexicon (from Greek Λεξικόν of a language is its Vocabulary, including its words and expressions Argot ( French, Spanish and Catalan for " Slang " is a Secret language used by various groups—including but not limited A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of Since it is used in free variation with English, it might also be called a jargon. For Wikipedia jargon see WikipediaGlossary. For hacker slang see Jargon File.

However, some Polari speakers produced expressions that would leave the realm of simple substitution of English words: for example, palone vadas omi-palone very cod, literally WOMAN LOOKS MAN-WOMAN VERY BAD, for "that woman is giving this gay man a dirty look. "

See also

• African American Vernacular English (sometimes called Ebonics)
• Caló (Chicano)
• Cockney rhyming slang
• Fairground
• Gail language
• Lunfardo and Vesre
• Verlan

Bibliography

• Baker, Paul (2002) Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang. African American Vernacular English ( AAVE) – also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Caló (also known as Pachuco) is an Argot or slang of Mexican Spanish which originated during the first half of the 20th century in the Southwestern Rhyming slang is a form of Slang in which a word is replaced either by another word or phrase that rhymes with it or by the first word of such a phrase in which Gail, or Gayle, is an English and Afrikaans -based Argot used primarily by English and Afrikaans-speaking Gay men in urban communities Lunfardo is an Argot of the Spanish language which developed at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century in the lower classes in and around Vesre (reversing the order of syllables within a word is one of the features of the Rioplatense Spanish. In the French language, verlan is the inversion of Syllables in a word which is found in Slang and Youth language. London: Continuum: ISBN 0-8264-5961-7
• Baker, Paul (2002) Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men. London: Routledge: ISBN 0-415-26180-5
• Elmes, Simon & Rosen, Michael (2002) Word of Mouth. Oxford University Press: ISBN 0-19-866263-7

References

External links

• Julian and Sandy feature on Kenneth Williams Website
• Chris Denning's article on Polari with bibliography
• Hugh Young's Lexicon of Polari
• "World Wide Words" column on the use of Polari in Round the Horne
• The Polari Bible compiled by The Manchester Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
• Colin Richardson, The Guardian, 17 January 2005, "What brings you trolling back, then?"
• BBC - Voices, An interview with four members of a project for older gay men. Events 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. (In voice clip 2, Polari is spoken)
• Polari FAQ
• Juha's Polari album
• Audio slang excerpt from VicLit novel The Worms of Euston Square

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