i haven't seen ff yet primarily because it's difficult to find in my area of the united states, but i have seen gsh and i'm curious to find out if cockney rhyming is something that doesn't happen at all in the uk or if it happens just in certain regions?
shareIt is used to a greater or les extent all over the UK, waxing and waning dependant on area, fashion, etc.Some are more London based than others, some are well known. Many people all over the uk use it whether they realize or not. Some use it knowingly others though use words now too old for many to know the derrivation. ie: "lets scarper" is a word meaning to run away, used all across the uk. it comes from "Scapa Flow" which is a sea anchorage off the north coast of scotland, where the German fleet was scuppered after WW1. "Scapa Flow" is not exactly an everyday place name, it has been forgotten. So to most people "Sca(r)pa" means to run away. Sca(r)pa flow = "lets go"
Or a very common useage is a police informer being called a "grass". This comes from a double rhyme. 'grass' is short for 'grass in the park' which rhymes with 'nark'. Up untill the 1960s a "coppers nark" was a known slang for an informer, so this was rhymed to be 'Grass in the park', which rhymes with (coppers) nark.
A lot of it is just obvious if you give it a seconds thought. I remember the first time i knowingly heard a cockney use the experssion "it's a load of old Pony" I knew from what he was talking of that it was an insult, so i quicklythought to myself 'what goes with 'Pony', knowing that it would be that word which would rhyme with what he meant. Long story short, Pony and trap rhymes with 'crap'! :)
The book The Rookeries of London - Thomas Beames [ISBN-13: 978-1409965718], gives many early uses of slang or 'Cant' as used by the Costermongers of London (A costermonger is someone who sells from a moveable stall or barrow. Of which there were many thousands of in Victorian times)
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quis custodiet ipsos custodes
I wouldnt rely on GSH to tell you anything about anything.
shareAre you saying I shouldn't let it be a true to life testament to how tough Elijah Wood really is?
shareDolifk do I have to point out that the UK is England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
You just made some massive generalisations that will do nothing to improve the knowledge of the person who asked this question.
What you ought to have said is that one or two words have been adopted by the countries of the UK, mainly just the word 'grass', while the majority of the regional areas within these countries usually have their own specific slang separate from Cockney rhyming slang which was really only the product of a small part of the east end of London, which is itself not really spoken much today atall.
Different regions have different rhyming slang.
GSH is a *beep* film, FF is definitely superior...watch this for an actual BRITISH portrayal of football violence. If shops over there don't stock it...Amazon is your friend :)
It was used originally in the working class east end of London, but as the community moved out to the suburbs after the war and the east end became home for many of the immigrants who settled in Britain, its usage became less and less. It is still used to some degree in London and the surrounding counties but its unlikely you'll hear it in the places it originated. In fact its a novelty to hear English spoken at all.
shareFor the un-educated and the americans, Cockney rhyming slang originated in the late 1800's in London prisons as a form of communication to fool the gaurds. It bacame popular when those using it began using it on the outside. It's rarley used nowadays, mostley for the above stated reasons. And there are different regions of London, and not everyone used to use it. People from South London are not referred to as Cockneys, but as Bandits (Millwall Frank saying to Billy Bright "You're in Bandit Country now"). This has some reference to us South Londoners (is one and proud) being criminals, which is untrue of course.
There is an old saying that you are only a true Cockney if you are born within the sound of the Bow Bells (the bells that ring from Bow Church in east London).
So not everyone born in London is the same.
As for GSH being superior to FF.... One word... Bollocks!! FF rules!!
GSH, A yank's attempt to shock Christian America and make them feel sorry for us poor Brits...