With the passing of yet another year, the world has already begun to look forward toward a fresh start and a new beginning. What better duo than Adam and Eve, the starry couple from the very beginning of time, to send us bouncing into 2014 with a cockney rhyming slang phrase on the tips of our tongues?
“Adam and Eve” is the cockney rhyming phrase meaning “to believe” and used by many as a substitute for the verb in the East End of London. It’s not uncommon for a Londoner to enter a room and spark up a story of outrage beginning with, “You wouldn’t Adam ‘n’ Eve it!” but it’s also highly probable that most Londoners who use the phrase know very little about where it comes from and when it first became part of the Eastender’s standard vocabulary.
A brief history of Cockney Rhyming Slang
In the very early part of the 19th century, the first East London police force was formed by Sir. Robert Peel. Police officers earned the nickname, “Peelers” or “Bobbies,” (Bob being the shortened version of Robert). They were some of the first victims of Cockney Rhyming Slang, which was specifically created by East London’s lower classes so that they could communicate with each other without running the risk of the “Bobbies” catching on to what they were saying.
Modern changes
As we move into 2014, you might not Adam ‘n’ Eve it, but Cockney Rhyming Slang continues to go through some big and important changes. For example, it’s less likely that popular, Cockney rhyming phrases would be heard in and around the East End London. Most Cockney speakers are now found a little bit further out in Essex. During the past five decades, East Londoners have been slowly moving out of London and Cockney Rhyming Slang has been duly migrating out with them.
In the 19th century, Cockney Rhyming Slang was a dialect used by East Londoners, born in and around the Bow Road area. However, it is now more accurate to say that most white, working-class people from the south east region of England are the common speakers of Cockney Rhyming phrases.
Grappling to hold onto traditions
Fearing that Cockney Rhyming Slang will one day die out completely, a number of East London schools have been part of a project to teach the phrases to young children. “Apples and pears” (meaning stairs) and “Have a Butcher’s hook,” (meaning look) form part of an East London campaign designed to get Cockney recognised as an official dialect.
This educational program not only hopes to encourage the younger generation to begin reutilising as many Cockney Rhyming Slang phrases as possible, but it also aims to revive East London (Cockney) foods and traditional dishes, as well as East London (Cockney) customs.
Over 100 dialects are spoken by children in East London schools. Cockney, if we consider it to be a dialect, is one of the largest. This explains the recent push towards making Cockney Rhyming Slang part of the East London primary schools’ language program. If you don’t Adam ‘n’ Eve it, feel free to get the full story in London’s Daily Mail Online.
