cod

en-adj

cod (comparative more cod, superlative most cod)

more cod (comparative)
most cod (superlative)

Origin unknown. Attested in reference to a person (though not always a stupid or foolish person) from the end of the 17th century. The Oxford English Dictionary (1891) notes that a suggested link to codger is unlikely, as cod appears much earlier.

Sandy: Right, right, well I'll just open the wardrobe. Oh, here, look—his wardrobe. Ha!
Julian: Ha! Oh what a naff lot!
Sandy: It is a bit cod isn't it.

1968 March 17, Kenneth Horne, Bona Rags (Round the Horne), season 4, spoken by Julian and Sandy (Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams):

Will you take a varder at the cartz on the feely-omi in the naf strides: the one with the bona blue ogles polarying the omi-palone with a vogue on and a cod sheitel.

1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 137:

Hahahahaha! @AnnaJaneCasey Vada the homi ajax, with the naff riah and the cod lally drags. Ooooo she's camp...

2016 September 18, Antony Cotton, Twitter:


naff

naff (comparative naffer, superlative naffest)

naffer (comparative)
naffest (superlative)

Perhaps from Polari, 1960s. Further etymology unknown; perhaps a conscious corruption of either fanny or eff (off) (see naff off).

That tie is a bit naff, don’t you think?

She was an ordinary woman in her dress style; she didn't wear a leather bodice or naff over-knee plastic spiky-heeled boots.

1998, Robert Llewellyn, The Man on Platform Five, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 291:

I mean ten years ago a bit of charlie was for pop stars or a celebrities birthday bash. It was demonized by Daily Mail Readers getting drunk in naff wine bars.

2004, J. J. Connolly, Layer Cake, spoken by XXXX (Daniel Craig):

Remember, “tacky” means “cheap or glitzy”, whereas “naff” is about stylistic shortcomings which are horrifyingly average and pathetically ordinary. The Jersey Shore is tacky, but The Bachelor is naff.

2012, Simon Doonan, Gay men don't get fat, New York: Blue Rider Press, →ISBN, page 206:

A mere seven years after her tragic death, isn’t it grim and tasteless to send her hologram off on some naff tour?

2019 February 24, Barbara Ellen, “Amy Winehouse could belt out a tune – her naff hologram can’t”, in The Guardian:

Note that last phrase: what actually emerged was a virtual-reality platform called Horizon Worlds, accessible only via naff and clunky Oculus headsets (think an uncomfortable version of Zoom) […]

2023 May 13, John Naughton, “A moment’s silence, please, for the death of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

(British, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial, Polari) Bad; tasteless, poorly thought out, not workable.

The omie was a veritable donkey beneath the waistband, darlings. A donkey! No wonder your boss-palone is so smitten. I've seen my share, dollies, but this old omiepalone was shaken to the core. Such a terrible waste on a naff bloke.


chicken

en-noun

chicken (countable and uncountable, plural chickens)

→ German: Chicken

→ Irish: sicín

→ Japanese: チキン (chikin)

→ Korean: 치킨 (chikin)

From Middle English chiken (also as chike > English chick), from Old English ċicen, ċycen (“chicken”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *kiukīn (“chicken”), or alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *kukkīn, equivalent to cock + -en.
Compare North Frisian schückling (“chicken”), Saterland Frisian Sjuuken (“chicken”), Dutch kuiken (“chick, chicken”), German Low German Küken (“chick”), whence German Küken (“chick”), (elevated, obsolete) German Küchlein (“chick”) and Old Norse kjúklingr (“chicken”).

run around like a chicken with its head cut off

Europe's Favorite Gay Newspaper has something for you! Handsome studs, Tender Chicken, and lots of Male Nudes!

1976 April 10, “Classified advertisement”, in Gay Community News, page 19:

I am a little white chicken, beautiful as sweet and young as beautiful and soft as young and gay as soft and innocent as gay. I dare you to write.

1991 December 1, Ronald Smith, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 20, page 14:

(countable, Polari) A young, attractive, slim man, usually having little body hair; compare chickenhawk.


soleil

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-soleil.wav

Divine. ... Disportinging yourself on the sable plage getting your lallies all bronzed - your riah getting bleached by the soleil.

1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Bijou Tourettes (Round the Horne), season 3, episode 12:


nanti

Borrowing from Sabir nanti, from Italian niente, from Latin ne gentem (“no person, no one”), nec entem, ne entem or ne inde.

There was no clown for the pantomime, for he had disappointed us, and of course they couldn't get on without one; so, to keep the concern going, old Johnson, who know I was a good tumbler, came up to me, and said 'he had nanti vampo, and your nabs must fake it;' which means,—We have no clown, and you must do it.

1851, Henry Mayhew, “Our Street Folk”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 3, published 1861, The Canvas Clown, page 126:

She's with the trade your mother charvaed yesterday. Some omees have nanti taste!

2004, Paul Baker, Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang:

I can't see that over his heaving thews and bulging lallies!¶ Of course he's nanti riah, but with a basket like that, who cares about his eek?

2012 January 10, Karis, “Gareth's bright blue outfit”, in Big Brother Forum (Digital Spy):


-ette

Inherited from Middle English -ette, a borrowing from Old French -ette, from Latin -itta, the feminine form of Latin -ittus.

You may have vada'd one of our tiny bijou masterpiecettes, heartface.

1967, Barry Took, Marty Feldman, “Gaslight Son of Flicker”, in Round the Horne, spoken by Sandy (Kenneth Williams):

'Shame, eh, my little cherry? I was really bonar for him and all. It'll be a lonely old arthur for me tonight as usual. Ah well, let's have another little drinkette then, shall we? And perhaps, Poppett,' he sighed histrionically. 'I'll learn to keep my queeny old polari for them what appreciates it. Or for them what admints it,'

2002, Gilda O'Neill, The Sins Of Their Fathers (Eastend Trilogy; 1):

(Polari) Used to form nouns with a Polari context or an association with gay subculture.


eek

Clipping of ecaf (“face”), from face via backslang.

How bona to vada your eek! ― How good to see your face!

You have your Elizabeth Taylor done in half-tones, reclining on this chaise longue – that’s your actual French – decollete down to her ankles, with a wanton look all over her eek.

1966, Barry Took, Marty Feldman, Round the Horne, season 2, spoken by either Julian or Sandy (either Hugh Paddick or Kenneth Williams):

Though she's a bimbo bit of hard, / she’s royal and tart. And girl, you know / vadaing her eek is always bona.

2015 October 12, Adam Lowe, “Poem of the week: Vada That”, in The Guardian:

[H]e plonked his corybungus down and turned his eek to the driver.

2021, Daren Kay, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star”, in The Brightonians (ebook):


blag

en-verb

blag (third-person singular simple present blags, present participle blagging, simple past and past participle blagged)

blags (present singular third-person)
blagging (participle present)
blagged (participle past)
blagged (past)

The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly:
* from blag (“to rob; to steal”) (see etymology 1); or
* borrowed from French blaguer (“to joke (about); to tell a lie”), from blague (“pouch, especially for tobacco; joke (from the notion of something puffed up, and thus fanciful)”) (from Dutch balg (“leather bag”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”)) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).
The adjective and noun are probably derived from the verb.

keplotella

to obtain (something) for free, particularly by guile or persuasion

Derek Jarman had also publicly identified himself as HIV-positive, while at the same time celebrating what the mainstream press saw and criticized as a promiscuous irresponsibility in blagging trade on Hampstead Heath, an infamous (and very popular) gay cruising ground in North London.

1997, Ian Lucas, “The Color of His Eyes: Polari and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”, in Anna Livia, Kira Hall, editors, Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality, New York, N.Y., Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 89:

(Polari) To meet and seduce (someone) for romantic purposes, especially in a social situation; to pick up.


batt

Late Middle English in the sense "piece, lump," of uncertain origin, but possibly related to the noun bat with the sense of "beaten" fabric.

As feely homies, when we launched ourselves onto the gay scene, polari was all the rage. We would zhoosh our riahs, powder our eeks, climb into our bona new drag, don our batts and troll off to some bona bijou bar.

1977, Rictor Norton, quoting Peter Burton, The Gentle Art of Confounding Naffs, quoted in Myth of the Modern Homosexual, Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2016, →ISBN, page 115:


cove

Britain ante-1570. From Romani kodo (“this one, him”), perhaps change in consonants due to lower class th-fronting, or Romani kova (“that person”).

(Australia and Polari) A friend; a mate.


dolly

en-adj

dolly (comparative more dolly, superlative most dolly)

more dolly (comparative)
most dolly (superlative)

Disputed. Most scholars derive the term from doll + -y, as Etymology 1, above. Linguist Ian Hancock, however, suggests derivation from Italian dolce (“sweet”).

Divine. Sitting, sipping a tiny drinkette, vadaïng the great butch omis and dolly little palones trolling by, or disporting yourself on the sable plage getting your lallies all bronzed - your riah getting bleached by the soleil.

She minces past the brandy latch / to vada dolly dish for trade, silly / with oomph and taste to park.


cottage

→ French: cottage

Late Middle English, from Anglo-Norman cotage and Medieval Latin cotagium, from Old Northern French cot, cote (“hut, cottage”) + -age (“surrounding property”), from Proto-Germanic *kutan, *kuta- (“shed”), probably of non-Indo-European origin, possibly borrowed from Uralic; compare Finnish kota (“hut, house”) and Hungarian ház (“house”), both from Proto-Finno-Ugric/Proto-Uralic *kota. However, also compare Dutch and English hut.
Old Northern French cote is probably from Old Norse kot (“hut”), cognate of Old English cot of same Proto-Germanic origin.
Slang sense “public toilet” from 19th century, due to resemblance.

(Polari) A meeting place for homosexual men.


cottage

en-verb

cottage (third-person singular simple present cottages, present participle cottaging, simple past and past participle cottaged)

cottages (present singular third-person)
cottaging (participle present)
cottaged (participle past)
cottaged (past)

(intransitive, Polari, of men) To have homosexual sex in a public lavatory; to practice cottaging.


butch

en-adj

butch (comparative butcher or more butch, superlative butchest or most butch)

butcher (comparative)
more butch (comparative)
butchest (superlative)
most butch (superlative)

Originally, it was probably used as an abbreviation of butcher. Later, in the 1940s, the sense “masculine lesbian” developed.

There, look, Mr. Horne! Vada that great butch lucoddy!

1967, Barry Took, Marty Feldman, Round the Horne, spoken by Sandy (Kenneth Williams):

Nor can I credit that a — to put it crudely — proud bisexual butch Italian — albeit one lonely, poor, emotional and without strong will — which Giovanni is shown to be in the earlier part of the book, should become, in a mere matter of months, and as the result of any happening, the venal hysterical fairy that he does.

1979, Colin MacInnes, Out of the way: later essays:

Then I started going out with different kinds of women, and I started feeling more like I wanted to be more butch. […] I feel much more butch than I feel femme.

1998, Kath Weston, Render Me, Gender Me: Lesbians Talk Sex, Class, Color, Nation, Studmuffins, Columbia University Press, →ISBN:

The process of appreciating a butch aesthetic may be even more complex for bisexual butch women. In contrast to lesbian butches who may date only within a butch-femme community, bisexual butch women may be more likely to […] In comparison to butch bisexual women, it may be easier for femme bisexual women to locate male and female dating partners […]

2007, Beth A. Firestein, Becoming Visible: Counseling Bisexuals Across the Lifespan, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 305:

More of the rotten responses I receive about being a bisexual butch woman come from other bisexuals, particularly men, who don't want to deal with any woman who is not some Barbie doll standard of femininity.

2014, Naomi S Tucker, Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, and Visions, Routledge, →ISBN, page 186:

"Faye got wicked buff and has a super butch haircut and it is hot as shit." "It's okay, babe. We can ogle her together."

2016, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), Number 3154: Coupling:

(slang, originally Polari) Very masculine, with a masculine appearance or attitude.


gelt

en-noun

gelt (usually uncountable, plural gelts)

In the basic sense of "money", attested since the early 16th century, initially from (an Early New High German continuation of) Middle High German gelt (modern German Geld), from Old High German gelt (“payment, money”), or in some cases from (an Early Modern Dutch continuation of) Middle Dutch gelt. Later, and in the Jewish-related senses, from Yiddish געלט (gelt). The German, Dutch and Yiddish words are all from Proto-Germanic *geldą (“reward, gift, money”). Doublet of native words geld and yield.

der

That nothynge had / There of theyr awne / Neyther gelt nor pawne.

c. 1529, John Skelton, The Tunning of Elynour Rummyng, section 610:

It amounts to not above 12000 Fr. Rhenish, yearly, in bare gelt.

1591 (1685), Henry Wotton, in Reliquiae Wottonianae, 616

The is no Gelt to be got.

c. 1698, B. E., A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew:

I saw him at the house of my parents; I in my earliest youth, he approaching to fourscore. He was on his way to collect the Dominie's gelt; for the Dutch always took care the stipend to the minister should be competent, that so he never might be straitened 'to desire a gift.'

1816, Egbert Benson, in a memoir read before the New York Historical Society [in 1816], quoted in History of the School of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church (1883), page 22

"And yet," said Captain Dalgetty, "my second and greatest difficulty remains behind; for, although I hold it a mean and sordid thing for a soldado to have nothing in his mouth but pay and gelt, like the base cullions, the German lanz-knechts, whom I mentioned before; […] yet, ex contrario, a soldier's pay being the counterpart of his engagement of service, it becomes a wise and considerate cavalier to consider what remuneration he is to receive for his service, […]

1852, Walter Scott, A Legend of Montrose And, The Black Dwarf:

Have bought some farm land in Rio Grande Valley which should bring in a sizeable bundle of gelts come cotton picking time.

1948, William Burroughs, letter, 5 Jun 1948

The miser, a-seeking lost gelt, / The doughboy, awaiting the battle, / May possibly know how I felt / While the long years dragged by as the dealer / As slow as the slowest of dubs, / Stuck out the last helping of tickets / 'Till I lifted—the Bullet of Clubs!

1969, Robert L. Vann, The Competitor, volumes 2-3, page 135:

(originally UK, especially thieves' cant and Polari, later Judaism and general slang) Money.

especially thieves' cant and Polari; later Judaism and general slang; especially thieves' cant and Polari; later Judaism and general slang


vogue

en-noun

vogue (countable and uncountable, plural vogues)

First attested in 1565. Borrowed from Middle French vogue (“wave, course of success”), from Old French vogue, from voguer (“to row, sway, set sail”), from Old Saxon wogōn (“to sway, rock”), var. of wagōn (“to float, fluctuate”), from Proto-Germanic *wagōną (“to sway, fluctuate”) and Proto-Germanic *wēgaz (“water in motion”), from Proto-Germanic *weganą (“to move, carry, weigh”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to move, go, transport”) (compare way).
Akin to Old Saxon wegan (“to move”), Old High German wegan (“to move”), Old English wegan (“to move, carry, weigh”), Old Norse vaga (“to sway, fluctuate”), Old English wagian (“to sway, totter”), German Woge (“wave”), Swedish våg (“wave”). More at wag.
The dance derives its name from Vogue magazine.

cog

Will you take a varder at the cartz on the feely-omi in the naf strides: the one with the bona blue ogles polarying the omi-palone with a vogue on and a cod sheitel.

1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 137:


vogue

en-verb

vogue (third-person singular simple present vogues, present participle voguing, simple past and past participle vogued)

vogues (present singular third-person)
voguing (participle present)
vogued (participle past)
vogued (past)

Vogue me up.

(Polari) To light a cigarette for (someone).


bona

en-adj

bona (comparative more bona, superlative most bona)

more bona (comparative)
most bona (superlative)

Borrowed from Sabir bona (“good”), from Italian buono (“good”), from Latin bonus (“good”), from Old Latin duenos (“good”), from Proto-Italic *dwenos (“good”). Doublet of bonus.

SANDY: Oh, get him! The vanity of the man. Well, p'raps not Nelson then. How about reproductions of great masterpieces?
JULIAN: A bona idea. Now, let me see...

1966, Kenneth Horne, Bona Tattoos (Round the Horne), season 2, spoken by Julian and Sandy (Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams):

Bona to vada you.

1997, Ian Lucas, “The Color of His Eyes: Polari and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”, in Anna Livia, Kira Hall, editors, Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality, page 90:


bona

Order lau your luppers on the strillers bona.

1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Guest House (Round the Horne), season 3, spoken by Julian (Hugh Paddick):


ogle

17th century. Probably from Low German ögeln (“to ogle, to flirt with one's eyes”), from Middle Low German ö̂gelen, frequentative of Middle Low German ö̂gen, from Old Saxon ōgian, from Proto-West Germanic *augijan (“to show”). Alternatively from an equivalent Dutch *ogelen, but this seems unattested (only the simplex ogen). In both cases equivalent to English eye + -le.

der

Slick, she bamboozles the ogles / of old Lilly Law.

2015 October 12, Adam Lowe, “Poem of the week: Vada That”, in The Guardian:


badge-cove

(Polari) An old person; a senior citizen.


jogger

en-verb

jogger (third-person singular simple present joggers, present participle joggering, simple past and past participle joggered)

joggers (present singular third-person)
joggering (participle present)
joggered (participle past)
joggered (past)


vada

vada (third-person singular simple present vadas, present participle vadaing, simple past and past participle vada'd)

vadas (present singular third-person)
vadaing (participle present)
vada'd (participle past)
vada'd (past)

Borrowed from Sabir vada, ultimately from Italian vedere (“to see”)

[…]"The mummers have got a slang of their own, which parties connected with the perfession^([sic]) generally use. […]
"'Vada the glaze' is—Look at the window.[…]"

1851, Henry Mayhew, “Our Street Folk”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 3, published 1861, Strolling Actors, page 139:

You may have vada'd one of our tiny bijou masterpiecettes, heartface.

1967, Barry Took, Marty Feldman, “Gaslight Son of Flicker”, in Round the Horne, spoken by Sandy (Kenneth Williams):

Though she's a bimbo bit of hard, / she’s royal and tart. And girl, you know / vadaing her eek is always bona.


zhoosh

zhoosh (third-person singular simple present zhooshes, present participle zhooshing, simple past and past participle zhooshed)

zhooshes (present singular third-person)
zhooshing (participle present)
zhooshed (participle past)
zhooshed (past)

UK 1960s. Unclear origin; one explanation is that it was borrowed from Angloromani yuser (“clean”, verb) and yusher (“clear”, verb), from Angloromani yus-, yuz-, yuzh- (“clean”) and yush- (“clear”), from Romani žuž-, už- (“clean”, adjective) (also compare Hindi उज्ज्वल (ujjval, “bright”)), but this has been seen as problematic. Another theory is that the term is instead an "expressive formation" similar to whoosh and swish. The South African sense reportedly comes from a regional pronunciation of "Jewish", alluding to the high reputation of Jewish tailors at the time, but this has also been considered unlikely. All senses originated around the same time, with the first attributed use of the noun in 1968 and the verb in 1970.

Mostly the words are dusted off and brought out when we wish to zhoosh up the conversation, to announce a particular delight in our queenly style.

1988, Neil Bartlett, Who Was That Man?, →ISBN, page 82:

Mr. Warburton, a volunteer, swept into the group’s headquarters in the Hotel Pennsylvania, a team of hair stylists in tow, his objective to “zhoosh up” the women’s looks, he said.

2009 May 27, Ruth La Ferla, “To Dress for Success, You Must Trust His Eye”, in The New York Times:

Christmas dinner is stressful enough without busting out recipes you’ve never made before. That said, if Sue is after a little zhoosh, she might want to consider how she dresses her veg.

2021 December 21, Anna Berrill, “Final magic touches to zhoosh your Christmas lunch”, in The Guardian:

(transitive, originally Polari, UK and Australia, slang) To tweak, finesse or improve (something); to make more appealing or exciting. Usually with up.


bijou

en-adj

bijou (comparative more bijou, superlative most bijou)

more bijou (comparative)
most bijou (superlative)

Borrowed from Sabir bijou, ultimately from Occitan pichon (“small, little”), influenced by English bijou (“jewel”).

1968, Kenneth Horne, Bona Prods (Round the Horne):

We, the Sister of Perpetual Indulgence and the Gathered Faithful, do hereby invoke the spirit of our beloved Muffin the Mule, to recognize the bona work of Mr. Derek Jarman in promulgating Universal Joy […] in his bijou masterpiecettes[.]

1997, Ian Lucas, “The Color of His Eyes: Polari and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”, in Anna Livia, Kira Hall, editors, Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender, and Sexuality, page 91:

Polari, used for decades by gay men, actors, and theatre performers and which famously appeared on primetime radio show Round The Horne, has been brought up-to-date with a bijou iPhone appette.

2012 August 5, Paul, “Bijou Polari Appette pre-varda’d”, in Gay History, archived from the original on 2012-11-14:

(Polari) small, little (often implying affection)


homie

Variant spelling of Polari (early-to-mid 20th-century British English cant/slang popular among gay men) omi (“man, bloke”).

As feely homies, when we launched ourselves onto the gay scene, polari was all the rage. We would zhoosh our riahs, powder our eeks, climb into our bona new drag, don our batts and troll off to some bona bijou bar.

1977, Rictor Norton, quoting Peter Burton, The Gentle Art of Confounding Naffs, quoted in Myth of the Modern Homosexual, Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2016, →ISBN, page 115:

(Polari) Alternative spelling of omi (“man”)


mank

Via Polari, from Italian mancare (“to be lacking”), from Latin mancus (“maimed”). See above.

When he eats, he never closes his mouth. It's so mank.

(British, slang, originally Polari) Disgusting, repulsive.


mank

The plumber had to get all the mank out of the drain.

(British, slang, originally Polari) Something that is disgusting or manky.


lau

en-verb

lau (third-person singular simple present laus, present participle lauing, simple past and past participle laued)

laus (present singular third-person)
lauing (participle present)
laued (participle past)
laued (past)

(Polari) To place upon; to put down onto.


charver

charver (third-person singular simple present charvers, present participle charvering, simple past and past participle charvered)

charvers (present singular third-person)
charvering (participle present)
charvered (participle past)
charvered (past)

Of uncertain origin; possibly from nineteenth-century Romani charver (“prostitute”), or Italian chiavare (“to nail, to attach, to fuck”), or from Romani ćhavo (“child”) and/or its derivatives, especially Spanish chava (“girl”), or from Spanish chabacanada (“vulgarity”). (Compare charva.)


charver

(Polari) A woman, especially as a sexual partner.


nosh

en-noun

nosh (countable and uncountable, plural noshes)

From Yiddish נאַשן (nashn), from Middle High German naschen (“nibble”) (which is also the parent of German naschen), from Old High German naskōn (“to nibble; parasite”), from Proto-West Germanic *hnaskwōn (“to weaken; make soft; tenderise”). Doublet of nesh.


nosh

en-verb

nosh (third-person singular simple present noshes, present participle noshing, simple past and past participle noshed)

noshes (present singular third-person)
noshing (participle present)
noshed (participle past)
noshed (past)

(Polari) To perform fellatio (on); to blow.


funt

Borrowed from Yiddish פֿונט (funt, “pound (unit of weight)”).

bor

(Polari) Pound sterling: the currency of Great Britain; money generally.


your mother

For quotations using this term, see Citations:your mother.

(Polari) You; He, she (referring to someone who previously used your mother to refer to herself or himself)


bijou problemette

en-noun

bijou problemette (plural bijou problemettes or bijoux problemettes)

bijou problemettes (plural)
bijoux problemettes (plural)

bijou (“small, little”) + problem + -ette

A bijou problemette then arose. The conference finished too late for me to catch the northbound Eurostar Connection Waterloo-Edinburgh train.

1995 November 29, Nick Thompson, “Re: Eurostar”, in misc.transport.rail.europe (Usenet):

There is also the "bijou problemette" (as my old chemistry teacher would say) that members of this consortium can't legitimately enter the quiz, since they wrote some of the questions.

1999 February 11, Simon Nickerson, “Re: Trivia Quiz -- an announcement”, in alt.fan.eddings (Usenet):

I have a 'bijou problemette' with my PC. It only works after a period of being switched off.

2001 April 6, Peter Bartley, “The PC that runs once a day...”, in uk.comp.peripherals.misc (Usenet):

So Italy had a couple of bijoux problemettes; Mussolini had more, once he’d been dismissed as leader of the Fascist Party, and from leading the government of the country, he was arrested and gaoled by the Italians…

2013 October 2nd, “ppint. at pplay” (username), “Re: the balfour declaration” in alt.fan.pratchett, Usenet

(UK, originally Polari, informal, humorous) A little fault or problem.


balonie

(Polari and British, slang) Alternative form of baloney (nonsense).


polari

en-verb

polari (third-person singular simple present polaris, present participle polariing, simple past and past participle polaried)

polaris (present singular third-person)
polariing (participle present)
polaried (participle past)
polaried (past)

From Italian parlare (“to talk”), see Polari for more.

(Polari, intransitive) To speak or talk, particularly in slang or cant.

(Polari, transitive) To speak or talk in such a manner.


riah

For quotations using this term, see Citations:riah.


omi

Probably borrowed from Italian uomo (“man”).

Divine. Sitting, sipping a tiny drinkette, vadaïng the great butch omis and dolly little palones trolling by, or disporting yourself on the sable plage getting your lallies all bronzed - your riah getting bleached by the soleil.

1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Bijou Tourettes (Round the Horne), season 3, episode 12:

Well, she schlumphed her Vera down the screech at a rate of knots, zhooshed up the riah, checked the slap in the mirror behind the bar, straightened up one ogle fake riah that had come adrift, and bold as brass orderlied over as fast as she could manage in those bats and, in her best lips, asked, if she could parker the omi a bevvy.

1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 123:


cartes

From Italian cazzo (“penis”), compare French catze.


sheitel

From Yiddish שייטל (sheytl), cognate to German Scheitel (“parting”).

Will you take a varder at the cartz on the feely-omi in the naf strides: the one with the bona blue ogles polarying the omi-palone with a vogue on and a cod sheitel.

1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 137:


Eine

Eine is the place to be.

2015, Brian Fairbairn, Karl Eccleston, 1:42 from the start, in Putting on the Dish, spoken by Maureen (Steve Wickenden):


varder

varder (third-person singular simple present varders, present participle vardering, simple past and past participle vardered)

varders (present singular third-person)
vardering (participle present)
vardered (participle past)
vardered (past)

And then, sometimes the blinds is all drawed down, on account of the sun, and that cooks our goose; or, it's too hot for people to stop and varder—that means, see.

1851, Henry Mayhew, “Our Street Folk”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 3, published 1861, The History of Punch, page 50:

(Polari) Alternative spelling of vada (“to see”)


arva

arva (third-person singular simple present arvas, present participle arvaing, simple past and past participle arva’d)

arvas (present singular third-person)
arvaing (participle present)
arva’d (participle past)
arva’d (past)


bonar

en-adj

bonar (comparative more bonar, superlative most bonar)

more bonar (comparative)
most bonar (superlative)

If we has a good pitch we never tell one another, for business is business. If they know we've a 'bonar' pitch, they'll oppose, which makes it bad.

1851, Henry Mayhew, “Our Street Folk”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 3, published 1861, Punch Talk, page 41:

(Polari) Alternative spelling of bona (“good”)


palone

Uncertain; possibly from Italian paglione, by analogy with palliasse and so with hay bag.

‘I don't need a razor with a polony. If you want to know what it is, it's a bottle.’

To nomads the road is the ‘drag,’ a man a ‘homey,’ a woman a ‘palone,’ a fair a ‘gaff,’ and a shop a ‘lolly’ (curtailed rhyming slang: lollipop = shop), but English Gypsies still use drom, mush, manushi, weggorus, and budiga.

1944, Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, volumes 23-4:

(Polari and other slang) A young woman; a girl.


feely-omi

As feely homies, when we launched ourselves onto the gay scene, polari was all the rage.

1977, Peter Burton, quoted in: Rictor Norton, A Critique of Social Constructionism and Postmodern Queer Theory, "Queer Language," 16 July 2002, updated 2 July 2011

Will you take a varder on the feely-omi in the naf strides?

1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy, Then?, page 123:

O vada mi bona omi, the feely omi, the bona riah, the fantabulosa paliasse and leucoddy.

2005, sam_storyteller, “The Rules Of Torchwood Three, Nicholas Redux: 3 of 4”, in dreamwidth.org:


ajax

In the bar we would stand with our sisters, varda (look at) the bona cartes (male genitals) on the butch homme (man, pronounced o-me) ajax (nearby), who, if we fluttered our ogle riahs (eye lashes) at him sweetly, might just troll over to offer a light for the unlit vogue (cigarette) clenched between out teeth. [The explanations in round brackets are by Peter Burton]

1985, Peter Burton, Parallel Lives, page 38:

Oh, vada well that omee-palone ajax who just trolled in[.]

2004, Paul Baker, Fanatabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang, page 1:

[O]oh[,] will just vada that filiomi ajax[.]

2006, Matt Houlbrook, Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957, page 152:


mangarie

From Italian mangiare (“to eat”), from Old French mangier (“to eat”), from Latin mandūcāre, present active infinitive of mandūcō (“I eat”). Doublet of mungaree.

Amazing what a bit of mangarie can do.

2008, G. J. Leckie, Second Acts, page 231:

“Mangarie,” we are saying, pressing the biscuits and tins of food into their hands.

2011, Myron C. Peterson, Time Capsule-1944: A Story of World War II, page 145:

And, by the look of you, you could do with some mangarie, a good wash, and a proper night's kip.

2012, Tony Broadbent, Shadows in the Smoke:


lucoddy

1967, Barry Took and Marty Feldmen, Round the Horne, as quoted in Eric Partridge's The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: J-Z →ISBN
There, look, Mr. Horne! Vada that great butch lucoddy!


fantabulosa

fantabulosa (comparative more fantabulosa, superlative most fantabulosa)

more fantabulosa (comparative)
most fantabulosa (superlative)

UK late-1950s. Probably from fantabulous.

Next to her in the front seat her reluctant passenger grumbled. 'Well, this is all very nice. Fantabulosa I very much don't think.'

2015, Alex Howard, A Hard Woman to Kill (DCI Hanlon Series; 3):

Instead of the traditional "Glory be to the father, and to the son, and the Holy Spirit" the prayer offered was: "Fabeness be to the Auntie, and to the Homie Chavvie, and to the Fantabulosa Fairy".

2017 February 4, “Church 'regret' as trainees hold service in gay slang”, in BBC News:

excellent and Thesaurus:wonderful

of the highest quality; invoking awe and admiration


queer ken

From queer (“weird; odd”) + ken (“house”).

Fact is, / she’ll end up in the charpering carsey / of Jennifer Justice. What is this / queer ken she’s in?

2015 October 12, Adam Lowe, “Poem of the week: Vada That”, in The Guardian:

(dated, UK, thieves' cant and Polari) A prison.


bona omi

I'll uncross my lallies, runa comb through my riah, rearrange the expression on my eke and troll off for a mince round to vada the bona omis.

2011 October 25, “Ramblings: Fantabulosa”, in Gayboy, Interrupted, archived from the original on 2020-12-18:

'I've been wondering about you,' Bosie continued. 'I said to her, vada di omi-oh bona omi. You know?'

2015, Anthony Quinn, Curtain Call, Random House, →ISBN, page 3285:

(Polari) A beautiful man; a handsome man.


heartface

You may have vada'd one of our tiny bijou masterpiecettes, heartface.

1967, Barry Took, Marty Feldman, “Gaslight Son of Flicker”, in Round the Horne, spoken by Sandy (Kenneth Williams):

term of endearment
term of endearment#English


meshigener

meshigener (comparative more meshigener, superlative most meshigener)

more meshigener (comparative)
most meshigener (superlative)

/mɛˈʃɪɡ.nə(ɹ)/

There was an omi down in Hackney, a stevedore, ran the Dalston Number Four Dock. He couldn't fly, see, cos he had something wrong with his aunt nells. His balance was all meshigener—you can't fly if you can't balance. You'd never be off your dish. But he had a daughter—loved her to the death—an' she could fly, and did, on the English Rose.

2012, Ian McDonald, Be My Enemy (Everness; 2), Hachette UK, →ISBN:

She swishes / through town, 'alf meshigener, and blows / lamors through the oxy at all / the passing trade.

(Polari) Alternative form of meshuggener (“crazy”)


lally

Divine. Sitting, sipping a tiny drinkette, vadaïng the great butch omis and dolly little palones trolling by, or disporting yourself on the sable plage getting your lallies all bronzed - your riah getting bleached by the soleil.

1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Bijou Tourettes (Round the Horne), season 3, episode 12:

@bonnie_langford yes very lucky that the bona lallies are still hoofing

Aunt nell the patter flash and gardy loo! / Bijou, she trolls, bold on lallies / slick as stripes down the Dilly.


aunt nell

en-verb

aunt nell (third-person singular simple present aunt nells, present participle aunt nelling, simple past and past participle aunt nelled)

aunt nells (present singular third-person)
aunt nelling (participle present)
aunt nelled (participle past)
aunt nelled (past)

@bonnie_langford you're aunt nelling the polari you bona pallone


aunt nell

(Polari, imperative) Remain silent; be quiet.


bona nochy

/ˈbəʊnə ˈnɒtʃiː/


bona vardering

en-adj

bona vardering (comparative more bona vardering, superlative most bona vardering)

more bona vardering (comparative)
most bona vardering (superlative)


omi-palone

Will you take a varder at the cartz on the feely-omi in the naf strides: the one with the bona blue ogles polarying the omi-palone with a vogue on and a cod sheitel.

1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, page 137:

Bona party for all the lovers and omi palone's & lezzers in da smoke tonite


lally-drags

Ronnie continued with indecent relish. He did so enjoy dishing the scandal. 'Well, dollies, when he whipped his bingey out of his lally drags I am here to tell you it was fantabulosa!'

Hahahahaha! @AnnaJaneCasey Vada the homi ajax, with the naff riah and the cod lally drags. Ooooo she's camp...

2016 September 18, Antony Cotton, Twitter:


charper

en-verb

charper (third-person singular simple present charpers, present participle charpering, simple past and past participle charpered)

charpers (present singular third-person)
charpering (participle present)
charpered (participle past)
charpered (past)

From Italian cercare (“to look for”), from Late Latin circāre, present active infinitive of circō (“I traverse, go about”), from Latin circa (“around, near, about”), circus (“a circular line or orbit”), from Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos, “circle, ring”).

der

She’ll cruise an omi with fabulosa bod, / regard the scotches, the thews, the rod – / charpering a carsey for the trick.


charpering omi

Get a charpering omi round now!

2012 November 22, Tanice Judge, Twitter:

'She's street, but she's not tough.' He sipped his tea. 'How's the charpering omi?'

2015, Alex Howard, A Hard Woman to Kill:


charpering carsey

From charper (“to seek”) + carsey (“house”). Compare charpering omi (“policeman”).

Fact is, / she’ll end up in the charpering carsey / of Jennifer Justice.


strillers

Possibly from Italian strillare (“to scream; to squall”).

Order lau your luppers on the strillers bona.

1967, Kenneth Horne, Bona Guest House (Round the Horne), season 3, spoken by Julian (Hugh Paddick):

Bet you'd play the strillers real bona.

2015, Brian Fairbairn, Karl Eccleston, 1:56 from the start, in Putting on the Dish, spoken by Maureen (Steve Wickenden):

(Polari) A musical instrument, especially a piano.

No touching nanti naff shycles bona strillers & bevvies in the boozer & extra khazis dear all camp


lupper

What about your luppers? They size ten too?

2015, Brian Fairbairn, Karl Eccleston, 1:52 from the start, in Putting on the Dish, spoken by Maureen (Steve Wickenden):

'I'd be careful where you put your luppers, darling,' said Albert Slater. His right hand was tucked inside the silken folds of the dressing gown. Gun or knife? wondered Hanlon.

(Polari, usually in the plural) A finger.


ogle fake riah

From ogle (“eye”) + fake + riah (“hair”).

(Polari) Alternative form of ogle fake (“false eyelash”)


ogle riah fake

From ogle (“eye”) + riah (“hair”) + fake.


ogle fake

Well, she schlumphed her Vera down the screech at a rate of knots, zhooshed up the riah, checked the slap in the mirror behind the bar, straightened up one ogle fake riah that had come adrift, and bold as brass orderlied over as fast as she could manage in those bats and, in her best lips, asked, if she could parker the omi a bevvy.

1997, James Gardiner, Who's A Pretty Boy Then?, page 123:


ogle fakes

(Polari) A pair of spectacles; glasses; eyeglasses.


zhooshy

en-adj

zhooshy (comparative more zhooshy, superlative most zhooshy)

more zhooshy (comparative)
most zhooshy (superlative)

First to catch out eye are the zhooshy ombre coloured cushions, Stravklint, and duvet set, Pipstakra but that's just the tip of the flatpack iceberg.

2019 July 31, Kylie Klein-Nixon, “Ikea: Five things in the 2020 catalogue we hope to buy in New Zealand”, in Stuff:

(originally Polari, British, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Showy, flashy, ornate.


fake the fatcha

en-verb

fake the fatcha (third-person singular simple present fakes the fatcha, present participle faking the fatcha, simple past and past participle faked the fatcha)

fakes the fatcha (present singular third-person)
faking the fatcha (participle present)
faked the fatcha (participle past)
faked the fatcha (past)