Cockney Rhyming Slang. Thought to have originated in the East End of London around 1940.

It involves replacing a common word (like "phone") with a rhyming phrase of 2 words ("dog & bone") and then omitting the last rhyming word ("bone").
Why? To make the meaning of the phrase elusive to listeners (a cryptolect) who are not in the know ("answer the dog will ya?").

So, back in the day when there were a lot of street traders and merchants in the East End of London, they used Cockney Rhyming Slang to share information about punters (customers)...e.g., sharing the fact that someone has a lot of cash to spend and they can be taken for a top price.

This app brings you a Cockney Rhyming Slang dictionary and a translator that will take your own text and translate it into Cockney - with the option of Emailing or SMS'ing to your best friend!