Cockney
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/StMaryLeBowChurch.jpg/220px-StMaryLeBowChurch.jpg)
The term cockney refers to working-class inhabitants of London, particularly east London, and the slang used by these people. It is also often used in reference to the "cockney accent", the accent common among London's working-class.
A "true" cockney is often said to be someone born within earshot of the Bow Bells, i.e. the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church in Cheapside in the City of London (which is not itself in the East End). However, the bells were silent from the outbreak of World War II until 1961. Also, as the general din in London has increased, the area in which the bells can be heard has contracted. Formerly it included the City, Clerkenwell, Finsbury, Shoreditch, Hoxton, Stepney, Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Shadwell, Bermondsey, and Rotherhithe, although according to the legend of Dick Whittington the bells could also be heard from as far away as Highgate.
Etymology
The term was in use in this sense as early as 1600, when Samuel Rowlands, in his satire The Letting of Humours Blood in the Head-Vaine, referred to 'a Bow-bell Cockney'. John Minsheu (or Minshew) was the first lexicographer to define the word in this sense, in his Ductor in Linguas (1617), where he referred to 'A cockney or cockny, applied only to one born within the sound of Bow bell, that is in the City of London'. However, the etymologies he gave (from 'cock' and 'neigh', or from Latin incoctus, raw) were just guesses, and the OED later authoritatively explained the term as originating from cock and egg, meaning first a misshapen egg (1362), then a person ignorant of country ways (1521), then the senses mentioned above.
Francis Grose's A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) derives the term from the following story:
- A citizen of London, being in the country, and hearing a horse neigh, exclaimed, Lord! how that horse laughs! A by-stander telling him that noise was called Neighing, the next morning, when the cock crowed, the citizen to shew he had not forgot what was told him, cried out, Do you hear how the Cock Neighs?
An alternative derivation of the word can be found in Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary: London was referred to by the Normans as the "Land of Sugar Cake" (Old French: pais de cocaigne), an imaginary land of idleness and luxury. A humorous appellation, the word "Cocaigne" referred to all of London and its suburbs, and over time had a number of spellings: Cocagne, Cockayne, and in Middle English, Cocknay and Cockney. The latter two spellings could be used to refer to both pampered children, and residents of London, and to pamper or spoil a child was 'to cocker' him. (See, for example, John Locke, "...that most children's constitutions are either spoiled or at least harmed, by cockering and tenderness." from Some Thoughts Concerning Education, 1693)
Cockney area
The region in which "Cockneys" reside has changed over time, and is no longer the whole of London. As mentioned in the introduction, the traditional definition is that in order to be a Cockney, one must have been born within earshot of the Bow Bells. However, the church of St Mary-le-Bow was destroyed in the Great Fire of London and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. After the bells were destroyed again in 1941 in The Blitz of World War II, and before they were replaced in 1961, there was a period when by this definition no 'Bow-bell' Cockneys could be born. The use of such a literal definition produces other problems, since traffic noise and the current lack of a hospital with a maternity ward in earshot of the church would also severely limit the number of 'true' Cockneys that could be born.
A study was carried by the city in 2000 to see how far the Bow Bells could be heard[citation needed], and it was estimated that the bells would have been heard six miles to the east, five miles to the north, three miles to the south, and four miles to the west.
Thus while all East Enders are Cockneys, not all Cockneys are East Enders. The traditional core neighbourhoods of the East End are Bethnal Green, Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Stepney, Wapping, Limehouse, Poplar, Millwall, Hackney, Shoreditch, Bow and Mile End. The area gradually expanded as more land was built upon.
Migration of Cockneys has also led to migration of the dialect. As Chatham Dockyard expanded during the 18th Century, large numbers of workers were relocated from the dockland areas of London, bringing with them a "Cockney" accent and vocabulary. Within a short period this famously distinguished Chatham from the neighbouring areas, including the City of Rochester, which had the traditional Kentish accent. In Essex, towns that mostly grew up from post-war migration out of London (e.g. Basildon and West Horndon) often have a strong Cockney influence on local speech.
Cockney speech
Cockney speakers have a distinctive accent and dialect, and frequently use Cockney rhyming slang. The Survey of English Dialects took a recording from a long-time resident of Hackney[1].
John Camden Hotten, in his Slang Dictionary of 1859 makes reference to "their use of a peculiar slang language" when describing the costermongers of London's East End. In terms of other slang, there are also several borrowings from Yiddish, including kosher (originally Hebrew, via Yiddish, meaning legitimate) and shtumm (/ʃtʊm/ meaning quiet), as well as Romany, for example wonga (meaning money, from the Romany "wanga" meaning coal), and cushty (from the Romany kushtipen, meaning good). A fake Cockney accent, as used by some actors, is sometimes called 'Mockney'.
Typical features of Cockney speech include:
- Dropped H, as in not 'alf pronounced [aːf], ("not half")
- Diphthong shift of [iː] to [əi] (for example beet [bəiʔ]), [eɪ] to [aɪ] (for example bait [baɪʔ]), [aɪ] to [ɒɪ] (for example bite [bɒɪʔ]), and [ɔɪ] to [oɪ] (for example, boy [boɪ].
- In the /əʊ/ diphthong (as in 'coat'), not only does the nucleus lower, but the offglide tenses as well. Hence /bɐʉt/ for 'boat.'
- The /u:/ (in 'tune') phoneme is centralised, for instance, /bʉːt/ for 'boot.'
- /æ/ in 'bad' is lengthened somewhat. This feature, in addition to the Monophthongisation of the /au/ phoneme, means that in some dialects the words 'math' and 'mouth' sound the same.
- Merger of /θ/ with /f/, and [ð] with /v/, hence [mæfs] for ‘maths’, [bɒvə] for 'bother'.
- Monophthongisation of /aʊ/ to [æː], hence [dæːn] for ‘down’
- Use of a glottal stop for intervocalic 't', as in bottle or butter (but not when it precedes the stress, as in deter); it can also occur between other sonorants, as in mental or in Feltham (the h of which is silent even in RP)
- Considerable glide of the /ɔ:/ phoneme in 'cord' and 'thought.' In words with 'open' syllables like 'floor' and 'bore,' this vowel is pronounced with an upglide, similar to New York English. Hence /kɔ:ə/ for 'core.' In words with 'closed' syllables, such as 'cord' and 'caught,' the vowel glides to /ʊ/, hence /bɔ:ʊn/ for 'born.'
- Sometimes, use of a labiodental approximant [ʋ] for /r/, in contrast to an alveolar approximant [ɹ] in RP. To speakers who are not used to [ʋ], this can sound like a /w/.
- Vocalisation of dark l, hence mɪowɔː for ‘Millwall’.
- Use of me instead of my
- Use of ain't instead of isn't, am not, are not, has not, and have not
- Use of "In'it" to question a positive when making a statement, for example, "Good day today in'it?"
- Use of double negatives, for example "I didn't see nothing"
Example: Faw'y fahsan' frushes flew ova fawn'n 'eaf ("[ˈfɔːʔi ˈfæːzənʔ ˈfɹʌʃɪz ˈfluː ˌəʊvə ˈfɔːnʔənˌiːf]") for Forty thousand thrushes flew over Thornton Heath
The lengthening of the vowel sound in (for example) grass (from [græs] to [graːs]) was a Cockney innovation which spread and by 1900 was used by many southern English accents, and by RP. Most of the features mentioned above have in recent years partly spread into more general south-eastern speech, giving the accent called Estuary English; an Estuary speaker will use some but not all of the Cockney sounds. The characteristics of Cockney as opposed to Estuary are the dropping of H and grammatical features like the use of ain't.
A television advertisement for Heineken beer in the 1980s showed a Sloane woman receiving elocution lessons in Cockney, parodying My Fair Lady. In the advert, she was being taught to say "The wa'er in Majorca don' taste like wot it ough' a", but could only manage a posh rendition of "The water in Mallorca doesn't taste quite how it should" (until, of course, she drank the beer).
Today, certain elements of Cockney English are declining in usage within the area it is most associated with, displaced by a Jamaican Creole-influenced variety gaining popularity amongst young Londoners, particulary, though far from exclusively, those of Afro-Caribbean descent. [citation needed] Nevertheless, the glottal stop, double negatives, and the vocalization of the dark L (and other features of traditional cockney speech), along with some rhyming slang terms such as 'rabbit' (rabbit and pork = talk) are still in common usage.
Drama and fiction and Poetry
- Rudyard Kipling "The Widow at Windsor"
- Jerry Cruncher in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities
- Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (see also My Fair Lady)
- Gavroche Thenardier in English productions of the musical of Les Miserables (as an equivalent of Paris criminal Argot)
- Fevvers in Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus (novel)
- William Somerset Maugham's novel Liza of Lambeth
- Me and My Girl (musical)
- EastEnders soap opera
- Guy Ritchie films, especially Snatch (see also Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels)
- Eliza Pinchley in Family Guy's spoof of My Fair Lady
- Tobias Ragg and the Beggar Woman in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd
- Basher Tarr in the movie Ocean's Eleven
- Danny Blue in the BBC show, "Hustle"
- Wilson in the movie The Limey
- In the childrens television series TUGS, Ten Cents speaks with a Cockney accent.
- Most characters in the musical and movie-musical Oliver!
- The characters in the Thames Television show Minder made liberal use of Cockney slang, and the show brought terms such as porkies into common use
- The Hitcher and his acomplices in The Mighty Boosh
- Sid, the caretaker in the hit British comedy series Mind Your Language.
- Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper, in Doctor Who
- Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer in T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
- Most characters in the movie Green Street Hooligans
- Lucy in Jekyll and Hyde the musical
- Most characters in the movie To Sir, with Love
- Most characters in Harold Pinter's early plays
- Most characters in the plays and fiction of Philip Ridley.
- Stan Shunpike in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
- The Orks in the Warhammer 40,000 universe (and in the Dawn of War, RTS game series)
- The Landlady and her Boarders in Lucky Stiff, a Musical Comedy.
- Death of Inhaling Hatmaking Chemicals in Irregular Webcomic!
- Corporal Peter Newkirk in Hogan's Heroes
- "Sadie" in National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj
- Roman in Armed and Dangerous
- "Pim Scutney" an "Rog Gobshire" of Team Britain in the movie Beerfest
- Almost all characters in Nick Love's films The Football Factory and The Business
- Mordor Orcs in Peter Jackson's film trilogy The Lord of the Rings
- The London Cockneys were a baseball team who played in the International League from London, Ontario but are now defunct.
- Sam, Mary, and other minor characters in John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman
Famous Londoners
- Alfie Bass (actor, born in Bethnal Green)
- David Beckham (footballer, born in Leytonstone)
- Marc Bolan (singer, musician, born in Hackney)
- Bernard Bresslaw (actor, born in Stepney)
- Max Bygraves (Singer, songwriter and comedian, born in Rotherhithe)
- Michael Caine (Hollywood Film Star, born in Rotherhithe)
- George Carey (archbishop, born in Bow)
- Charlie Chaplin (Hollywood Film Star, born in Walworth)
- Jack Cohen (founder of Tesco supermarket chain, born in Whitechapel)
- Windsor Davies (actor, born in Canning Town)
- Roger Delgado, (actor, born in Whitechapel)
- Craig Fairbrass (actor, born in Stepney)
- Bud Flanagan, (actor, comedian, and singer, born in Whitechapel)
- Samantha Fox (model/singer, born in Mile End) Note that she often pronounces her first name as "Samanfer", adding an "r"
- Kenny Jones (musician, born in Bow)
- Kray twins, Ronald and Reginald (gangsters, born in Hoxton)
- Ronnie Lane (musician, born in Bow)
- Angela Lansbury (actress, born in Poplar)
- Vera Lynn (singer, born in East Ham)
- Steve Marriott (singer, musician, born in Bow)
- Lenny McLean (bare knuckle/unlicensed boxer/actor, born in Hoxton). Also known as "The Guv'nor". Played 'Barry the Baptist' in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
- Gary Oldman (actor, director born in New Cross)
- Mike Reid (actor/comedian, born in Hackney)
- Philip Ridley (artist, writer, film maker, photographer born in Bethnal Green)
- Roy Shaw (bare knuckle/unlicensed boxer, born in Stepney)
- Terence Stamp (actor, born in Stepney)
- Tommy Steele (singer, musician and actor, born in Bermondsey)
- Sir Alan Sugar (Businessman, born in Hackney)
- Barbara Windsor (actress, born in Shoreditch)
- Ray Winstone (actor, born in Hackney)
- Noel Fielding: Popular stand-up comic, and performer as the Mighty Boosh's Hitcher. Born in Westminster.
Famous Cockney performances
- Ronnie Barker as 'Fletch' in the TV comedy series Porridge
- Kathy Burke as 'Linda LaHughes' in comedy series Gimme Gimme Gimme
- Don Cheadle's (presumably cockney) performance in Ocean's Eleven (2001)
- Ben Kingsley as 'Don Logan' in Sexy Beast (2000)
- Bob Hoskins as 'Harold Shand' in The Long Good Friday
- Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnett in Til Death Us Do Part
- Dick Van Dyke's infamous and much parodied attempt at a cockney accent in Mary Poppins
- Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean
- Arthur English as 'Beverley Harmon' and Wendy Richard as 'Shirley Brahms' in comedy series Are You Being Served?
- Phil Daniels narrating on the title track of Blur's Parklife album
- Michael Caine in The Italian Job (original) and the Jack the Ripper film. Examples of cockney slang can be found in his performance with Mike Myers in "Austin Powers Goldmember", as well as his signature film, Alfie
- Eric Idle in the song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Life of Brian)
- Bill Bailey's classic skit about Cockney and classical composers
- David Jason as Del Boy (or Derick Trotter) in Only Fools and Horses, though he was a South Londoner, he used much Cockney rhyming slang
- Jessie Wallace as 'Kat Slater' on the soap opera EastEnders
- Joe Strummer: Punk rock legend.
- Simon Nash as 'Ten Cents' in the children's television series Tugs (1989)
- Timothy Bateson as The Worm in the film Labyrinth
- Catherine Tate as Joannie "Nan" Taylor in The Catherine Tate Show
- Christian Bale as Alfred Borden in the 2006 film, The Prestige
- Juliet Landau as the vampire Drusilla in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
See also
External links
- Grose's 1811 dictionary
- Whoohoo Cockney Rhyming Slang translator
- Sounds Familiar? — Listen to examples of London and other regional accents and dialects of the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website