Polari

Template:About Template:Short description Template:Use British English

Template:Use dmy dates {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other Template:Main other Template:LGBTQ sidebar

Polari (Template:Ety) is a form of slang or cant historically used primarily in the United Kingdom by some actors, circus and fairground performers, professional wrestlers, merchant navy sailors, criminals and prostitutes, and particularly among the gay subculture.

There is some debate about its origins,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but it can be traced to at least the 19th century and possibly as early as the 16th century.<ref>Collins English Dictionary, Third Edition</ref> Polari has a long-standing connection with Punch and Judy street puppeteers, who traditionally used it to converse.<ref name="Mayhew">Template:Cite book</ref>

TerminologyEdit

Alternative spellings include Parlare, Parlary, Palare, Palarie and Palari.

DescriptionEdit

File:Polari Rainbow Plaque.jpg

Rainbow Plaque on Leeds City Varieties theatre

Polari is a mixture of Romance (Italian<ref name="BritishSpiesLicensed">"British Spies: Licensed to be Gay." Time. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2018.</ref> or Mediterranean Lingua Franca), Romani, rhyming slang, sailors' slang and thieves' cant, which later expanded to contain words from Yiddish and 1960s drug subculture slang. It was constantly evolving, with a small core lexicon of about 20 words, including: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (good),<ref name="liverpoolmuseums.org.uk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (nearby), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (face), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (bad, in the sense of tacky or vile), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (bad, in the sense of drab or dull, though borrowed into mainstream British English with a meaning more like that of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (room, house, flat), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (not, no), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (man), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (woman), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (hair), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (smarten up, stylise), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('to be had', sexually accessible), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (sex) and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (see).<ref>Baker, Paul (2002) Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang. London: Continuum Template:ISBN</ref>

There were once two distinct forms of Polari in London: an East End version which stressed Cockney rhyming slang and a West End version which stressed theatrical and classical influences. There was some interchange between the two.<ref>David McKenna, A Storm in a Teacup, Channel 4 Television, 1993.</ref>

In the LGBTQ community, Polari also involves inverting gendered personal pronouns and names, typically switching them from male forms to female forms. For example, he may become she (known as she-ing), and the name Paul may become Pauline.<ref name="Lavender Language">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="lithub 2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Motschenbacher, Heiko. Review of Fabulosa! The story of Polari, Britain's secret gay language, by Paul Baker. Language, vol. 96 no. 4, 2020, p. 938-940. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lan.2020.0067. "In the domain of personal reference, Polari speakers often draw on inverted appellation practices (for example, 'she-ing'—the use of female pronouns to refer to male social actors), objectifying use of the pronoun it, endearment terms, metaphorical uses of kinship terms, and camp names."</ref>

UsageEdit

From the 19th century on, Polari was used in London fish markets, theatres, fairgrounds, and circuses, hence the many borrowings from Romani.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As many homosexual men worked in theatrical entertainment, it was also used among the gay subculture to disguise homosexuals from hostile outsiders and undercover policemen. It was also used extensively in the British Merchant Navy, where many gay men worked as waiters, stewards, and entertainers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Although William Shakespeare used the term bona (good, attractive) in Henry IV, Part 2 as part of the expression bona roba (a woman wearing an attractive outfit),<ref name=guardian>Template:Cite news</ref> "little written evidence of Polari before the 1890s" exists according to Oxford English Dictionary associate editor Peter Gilliver. The dictionary's entry for rozzer (policeman) includes a quote from P. H. Emerson's 1893 book Signor Lippo – Burnt Cork Artiste:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "If the rozzers was to see him in bona clobber they'd take him for a gun" ("If the police were to see him dressed in this fine manner, they would know that he is a thief").<ref name=guardian/>

The almost identical Parlyaree has been spoken in fairgrounds since at least the 17th century<ref>Partridge, Eric (1937) Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English</ref> and is still used by show travellers in England and Scotland. As theatrical booths, circus acts, and menageries were once common parts of European fairs, it is likely that the roots of Polari/Parlyaree lie in the period before both theatre and circus became independent of fairgrounds. The Parlyaree spoken on fairgrounds tends to borrow much more from Romani, as well as other languages and cants spoken by travelling people, such as thieves' cant and back slang.

Henry Mayhew gave an account of Polari as part of an interview with a Punch and Judy showman in the 1850s. The discussion he recorded references Punch's arrival in England, crediting these early shows to an Italian performer called Porcini (John Payne Collier's account calls him Porchini, a literal rendering of the Italian pronunciation).<ref>Punch and Judy. John Payne Collier; with Illustrations by George Cruikshank. London: Thomas Hailes Lacey, 1859.</ref> Mayhew provides the following:

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There are additional accounts of particular words that relate to puppet performance: "'{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}' – figures, frame, scenes, properties. '{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}' – call, or unknown tongue"<ref name="Mayhew"/> ("unknown" is a reference to the "swazzle", a voice modifier used by Punch performers).

DeclineEdit

Polari had begun to fall into disuse among the gay subculture by the late 1960s. The popularity of the BBC radio comedy Round the Horne, with its camp gay characters Julian and Sandy, ensured that some of the Polari terms they used became public knowledge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The need for a secret means of communication in the subculture also declined with the partial decriminalisation of adult homosexual acts in England and Wales under the Sexual Offences Act 1967; in the 1970s, the gay liberation movement began to view Polari as old-fashioned and perpetuating harmful camp stereotypes.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Mainstream usageEdit

File:Bona Togs shop Jersey.jpg

Bona Togs, a St Helier shop named in Polari

A number of words from Polari have entered mainstream slang. The list below includes words in general use with the meanings listed: acdc, barney, blag, butch, camp, khazi, cottaging, hoofer, mince, ogle, scarper, slap, strides, tod, [rough] trade.

The Polari word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, meaning inferior or tacky, has an uncertain etymology. Michael Quinion says it is probably from the 16th-century Italian word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, meaning "a despicable person".<ref name="quinaff">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There are a number of false etymologies, many based on backronyms—"Not Available For Fucking", "Normal As Fuck", etc. The phrase "naff off" was used euphemistically in place of "fuck off" along with the intensifier "naffing" in Keith Waterhouse's Billy Liar (1959).<ref name=billy1>Template:Cite book p35 "Naff off, Stamp, for Christ sake!" p46 "Well which one of them's got the naffing engagement ring?"</ref> Usage of "naff" increased in the 1970s when the television sitcom Porridge employed it as an alternative to expletives which were not broadcastable at the time.<ref name=quinaff/> Princess Anne allegedly told a reporter to "naff off" at the Badminton horse trials in April 1982,<ref>The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English Dalzell and Victor (eds.) Routledge, 2006, Vol. II p. 1349.</ref> however, the photographers who were present have since stated that this was a censored version of what she actually said.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

"{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" (Template:IPAc-en;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> alternatively spelled "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}," "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}," and a number of other variety spellings<ref name="Phelan">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>), meaning to smarten up, style or improve something, became commonplace in the mid-2000s, having been used in the 2003 United States TV series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and What Not to Wear.Template:Citation needed "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}", an alternative spelling of the word, was popularised by drag queen Jasmine Masters after her appearance on the seventh series of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Legacy and revivalEdit

Since the late 20th and early 21st century, there has been a renewed interest in Polari, especially as a part of LGBTQ+ heritage.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Gay's the Word has held workshops in Polari, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have translated the Bible into Polari,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Madame Jo Jo's nightclub in Soho taught its staff to speak Polari.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref>

Linguist Paul Baker attributes increased interest in Polari primarily to the growing body of academic work on the subject.<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":1"/> Author George Reiner explains that "the revival of a language like Polari offers the possibility of an alternate queer linguistic space" at a time when closing LGBTQ+ venues and dating apps have reduced queer social spaces.<ref name=":1"/>

In 2007, writer and activist Paul Burston launched Polari Literary Salon in London to platform LGBTQ+ writers. He launched the Polari First Book Prize in 2011. This was followed by the Polari Prize for LGBTQ+ writers at all stages of their career in 2019 and the Polari Children's & YA Prize in 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other organisations have also taken names inspired by Polari, such as Polari Magazine,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Vada Magazine,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and VADA LGBTQ Community Theatre Company.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2012 and 2013, Manchester artists Jez Dolan and Joe Richardson presented a performance-based tour and exhibition titled Polari Mission, which explored LGBTQ+ history and language use in the UK. This was presented at The John Rylands Library and Contact Theatre.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2015, Dolan also translated sections of the 1957 Wolfenden Report into Polari for a commission from the UK Parliament.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Dolan and Richardson also worked with Paul Baker to produce a 500-word dictionary of Polari as an app.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2016, to launch LGBT+ History Month 2017 and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, poet Adam Lowe performed his Polari poem "Vada That" in Parliament's Speaker's House with accompaniment by musician Nikki Franklin.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2017, a service at Westcott House, Cambridge was conducted in Polari. Trainee priests held the service to commemorate LGBT History Month; following media attention, Chris Chivers, the principal, expressed his regret.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":6">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2019, Reaktion Books published Paul Baker's third book on Polari, Fabulosa!: The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His first two books on the subject (Polari: Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang and Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men) were published in 2002 and 2003, respectively.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref>

In popular cultureEdit

Polari (spelt "Polare") was popularised on the 1960s BBC radio show Round the Horne. The camp gay Polari-speaking characters Julian and Sandy were played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams.<ref name="Stevens">Template:Cite book</ref>
In the Doctor Who serial Carnival of Monsters (1973), Vorg, a showman, attempts to converse with the Doctor in Polari.Template:Sfn
Ralph Filthy, a theatrical agent played by Nigel Planer in the BBC TV series Filthy Rich & Catflap, regularly used Polari.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1990 Morrissey released the single "Piccadilly Palare" containing a number of lyrics in Polari and exploring a subculture in which Polari was used. "Piccadilly Palare" later appeared on his compilation album Bona Drag, whose title is also taken from Polari.<ref>Kent, Nick (March 1990). "Morrissey Interviewed by Nick Kent". The Face.</ref>
In Doom Patrol, Danny the Street often speaks Polari.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In his 1995 novel Behind Closed Doors, Coronation Street creator Tony Warren depicts his characters using Polari on the gay scene of 1950s Manchester.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine, two characters speak Polari in a London nightclub. The scene has English subtitles in the American release of the film.<ref name=":2" />
In 2015, Brian Fairbairn and Karl Eccleston made a short film, "Putting on the Dish", which features a conversation entirely in Polari.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2018, George Reiner and Penny Burkett, published cruising for lavs, written mostly in Polari.<ref name=":3" />
In 2019, the first opera in Polari, The Sins of the Cities of the Plain (based on the book of the same title), premiered at Espacio Turina in Seville, Spain. The libretto was written in Polari by librettist and playwright Fabrizio Funari and the music is by Germán Alonso.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The same year, the English-language localisation of the Japanese video game Dragon Quest Builders 2 included a character called Jules, who spoke in Polari with non-standard capitalisation.<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref><ref name=":7">Template:Cite news</ref>
In the 2020 film Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse, a young Roald Dahl runs away from home and meets "a silver-tongued, Polari-speaking eccentric who may be a figment of the boy's imagination" played by Bill Bailey.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2023, Peepal Tree Press published Adam Lowe's debut poetry collection Patterflash, which features a number of Polari poems. The title is translated in the book's glossary as "Gossip, chat, ostentatious or pretentious speech; the lyrics pouring out of my gob".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the fourth episode of Funny Woman (2024), characters discuss BBC Radio using Polari in Round the Horne and visit a comedy club where gay and entertainment-industry characters converse in Polari.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

British singer Olly Alexander released his debut album Polari on 7 February 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

GlossaryEdit

Numbers:

Number	Definition	Italian numbers
medza, medzer	half	mezza
una, oney	one	uno
dooey	two	due
tray	three	tre
quarter	four	quattro
chinker	five	cinque
say	six	sei
say oney, setter	seven	sette
say dooey, otter	eight	otto
say tray, nobber	nine	nove
daiture	ten	dieci
long dedger, lepta	eleven	undici
kenza	twelve	dodici
chenter<ref name=":0"/>	one hundred	cento

Some words or phrases that may derive from Polari (this is an incomplete list):

Word	Definition
lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	bisexualTemplate:Sfn<ref name=":4" />
lang}}	nearby (shortened form of "adjacent to")Template:Sfn<ref name=":4" />
lang}}	they're attractive! (via acronym "LMO" meaning "Lick Me Out!")Template:Sfnw
lang}}	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
lang}}	listen!Template:Sfn
lang}}	ears<ref name="Stevens" />Template:Sfn
lang}}	earringsTemplate:Sfn
lang}}	a fightTemplate:Sfn
lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	shoesTemplate:Sfn
bevvy	drink (diminutive of "beverage")<ref name="liverpoolmuseums.org.uk"/>
lang}}	effeminate or passive gay man<ref name=":4" />
lang}}	small/little (from French, jewel)Template:Sfn
lang}}	lang}})
lang}}	sexually pick upTemplate:Sfn<ref name=":4" />
lang}}	homosexual<ref name="What is Polari All About"/>
lang}}	goodTemplate:Sfn
lang}}	lang}})Template:Sfn<ref name=":4" />
lang}}	masculine; masculine lesbianTemplate:Sfn
lang}}	lang}} or old-fashioned Italian – {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} or Lingua Franca bevire)Template:Sfn<ref name=":4" />
lang}}	talk/gossipTemplate:Sfn
lang}}	lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}} "emphasise, make stand out") (possibly from the phrase 'camp follower' those itinerants who followed behind the men in uniform/highly decorative dress)
lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	lang}})Template:Sfn
lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang\|lang}}	house or a toiletTemplate:Sfn
lang}}	lang}})Template:Sfn
lang}}	trousersTemplate:Sfn
charper	to search or to look (from Italian acchiappare, to catch)Template:Sfn
charpering omi	policeman<ref name=":4" />
charver	sexual intercourseTemplate:Sfn<ref name=":4" />
chicken	young man<ref name=":4" />
clevie	vagina<ref name=auto>Grose, Francis (2012). 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. tebbo. Template:ISBN</ref>
clobber	clothesTemplate:Sfn
cod	badTemplate:Sfn
corybungus	backside, posterior<ref name=auto/>
cottage	a public lavatory used for sexual encounters (public lavatories in British parks and elsewhere were often built in the style of a Tudor cottage)[1]
cottaging	seeking or obtaining sexual encounters in public lavatories<ref name=":4" />
cove	taxiTemplate:Sfn
dhobi / dhobie / dohbie	wash (from Hindi, dohb)Template:Sfn
Dilly boy	a male prostitute, from Piccadilly boy<ref name=":4" />
Dilly, the	Piccadilly circus, a place where cruising went on<ref name=":4" />
dinari	money (Latin 'denarii' was the 'd' of the pre decimal penny. This word is cognate with the Spanish word 'dinero' also meaning money)<ref>C. H. V. Sutherland, English Coinage 600-1900 (1973, Template:ISBN), p. 10</ref>
dish	buttocksTemplate:Sfn<ref name=":6" />
dolly	pretty, nice, pleasant, (from Irish dóighiúil/Scottish Gaelic dòigheil, handsome, pronounced 'doil')
dona	woman (perhaps from Italian donna or Lingua Franca dona)Template:Sfn Template:Rp
ecaf	face (backslang)Template:Sfn<ref name=":7" />
eek/eke<ref name=":0"/>	face (abbreviation of ecaf)Template:Sfn<ref name=":7" />
ends	hair<ref name="liverpoolmuseums.org.uk"/>
esong, sedon	nose (backslang)Template:Sfn<ref name=":5" />
fambles	hands<ref name=auto/>
fantabulosa	fabulous/wonderful<ref name=":4" />
farting crackers	trousers<ref name=auto/>
feele / feely / filly	child/young (from the Italian figlio, for son)<ref name=":4" />
feele omi / feely omi	young man<ref name=":4" />
flowery	lodgings, accommodations<ref name=auto/>
fogus	tobacco<ref name=":4" />
fortuni	gorgeous, beautiful<ref name=auto/>
fruit	gay man<ref name=":4" />
funt	pound £ (Yiddish)<ref name=":4" />
fungus	old man/beard<ref name=auto/>
gelt	money (Yiddish)<ref name=":4" />
handbag	money<ref name=":4" />
hoofer	dancer<ref name=":4" />
HP (homy palone)	gay man, especially an effeminate one<ref name=":4" />
irish	wig (from rhyming slang, "Irish jig")<ref name=":4" />
jarry	food, also mangarie (from Italian mangiare or Lingua Franca mangiaria)<ref name=":4" />
jubes	breasts<ref name=":4" />
kaffies	trousers<ref name=":4" />
lacoddy, lucoddy	body
lallies / lylies	legs, sometimes also knees (as in "get down on yer lallies")<ref name=":4" />
lallie tappers	feet<ref name=":4" />
latty / lattie	room, house or flat<ref name=":4" />
lau	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
lavs	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> (Irish: labhairt to speak)
lills	hands<ref name=":4" />
lilly	police (Lilly Law)<ref name=":4" />
lyles	legs (prob. from "Lisle stockings")<ref name=":4" />
luppers	fingers (from Yiddish lapa – paw)<ref name=":4" />
mangarie	food, also jarry (from Italian mangiare or Lingua Franca mangiaria)<ref name=":4" />
manky	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
martinis	hands<ref name=":4" />
measures	money<ref name=":4" />
medzered	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
meese	plain, ugly (from Yiddish mieskeit, in turn from Hebrew מָאוּס repulsive, loathsome, despicable, abominable)
meshigener	nutty, crazy, mental (from Yiddish 'meshugge', in turn from Hebrew מְשֻׁגָּע crazy)<ref name=":4" />
meshigener carsey	church<ref name="The Polari Bible"/>
metzas	money (from Italian mezzi, "means, wherewithal")<ref name=":4" />
mince	walk affectedly<ref name=":4" />
mollying	involved in the act of sex<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
mogue	deceive<ref name=":4" />
munge	darkness Template:Citation needed
naff	awful, dull, hetero<ref name=":4" />
nana / nanna	awful<ref name=":4" />
nanti	not, no, none<ref name=":4" /> (from Italian, niente)
national handbag	dole, welfare, government financial assistance<ref name=":4" />
nishta	nothing<ref name="liverpoolmuseums.org.uk"/> from yiddish nishto נישטא meaning nothing
ogle	look admiringly<ref name=":4" />
ogles	eyes<ref name=":4" />
oglefakes	glasses<ref name=":4" />
omi	man<ref name=":4" /> (from Romance)
onk	nose<ref name=":4" /> (from "conk")
orbs	eyes<ref name=":4" />
orderly daughters	police<ref name=":4" />
oven	mouth (nanti pots in the oven = no teeth in the mouth)<ref name=":4" />
palare / polari pipe	telephone ("talk pipe")<ref name=":4" />
palliass	back<ref name=":4" />
park, parker	give<ref name=":4" />
plate	feet<ref name=":4" /> (Cockney rhyming slang "plates of meat"); to fellate
palone	woman<ref name=":4" /> (Italian paglione – "straw mattress"; cf. old Cant hay-bag – "woman"); also spelled "polony" in Graham Greene's 1938 novel Brighton Rock
palone-omi	lesbian<ref name=":4" />
pots	teeth<ref name=":4" />
quongs	testicles<ref name=":4" />
reef	touch<ref name=":4" />
remould	sex change<ref name=":4" />
rozzer	policeman<ref name=guardian/>
riah / riha	hair (backslang)<ref name=":4" />
riah zhoosher	hairdresser<ref name=":4" />
rough trade	a working class or blue collar sex partner or potential sex partner; a tough, thuggish or potentially violent sex partner<ref name=":4" />
scarper	to run off<ref name=":4" /> (from Italian scappare, to escape or run away or from rhyming slang Scapa Flow, to go)
scharda	shame<ref name=":4" /> (from German schade, "a shame" or "a pity")
schlumph	drink<ref name=":4" />
schmutter	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> from Yiddish shmatte שמאטע meaning rag
schooner	bottle<ref name=":4" />
scotch	leg<ref name=":4" /> (scotch egg=leg)
screech	mouth, speak<ref name=":4" />
screeve	write<ref name="Polari Bible"/> (either from Irish scríobh/Scottish Gaelic sgrìobh, Scots scrieve to write or italian 'scrivere' meaning to write)
sharpy	policeman<ref name=":4" /> (from – charpering omi)
sharpy polone	policewoman<ref name=":4" />
shush	steal (from client)<ref name=":4" />
shush bag	hold-all<ref name=":4" />
shyker / shyckle	wig<ref name=":4" /> (mutation of the Yiddish sheitel)
slap	makeup<ref name=":4" />
so	homosexual<ref name=":4" /> (e.g. "Is he 'so'?")
stimps	legs<ref name=":4" />
stimpcovers	stockings, hosiery<ref name=":4" />
strides	trousers<ref name=":4" />
strillers	piano<ref name=":4" />
switch	wig<ref name=":4" />
TBH (to be had)	prospective sexual conquest<ref name=":4" />
thews	thighs<ref name=":4" />
tober	road (a Shelta word, Irish bóthar); temporary site for a circus, carnivalTemplate:Citation needed
todd (Sloan) or tod	aloneTemplate:Citation needed
tootsie trade	sex between two passive or feminine homosexuals<ref name=":4" /> (as in: 'I don't do tootsie trade')
trade	sex, sex-partner, potential sex-partner<ref name=":4" />
troll	to walk about (esp. looking for trade)<ref name=":4" />
vada / varder	to see (from Italian dialect vardare = guardare – look at)<ref name=":4" />
vera (lynn)	gin<ref name=":4" />
vogue	cigarette<ref name=":4" /> (from Lingua Franca fogus – "fire, smoke")
vogueress	female smokerTemplate:Citation needed
wallop	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
willets	breasts<ref name=":4" />
yeute	no, none{{
yews	(from French "yeux") eyes<ref name=":4" />
zhoosh	style, improve, clothes<ref name=":4" />(cf. Romani zhouzho – "clean, neat")
zhooshy	showy<ref name=":4" />

Usage examplesEdit

Omies and palones of the jury, vada well at the eek of the poor ome who stands before you, his lallies trembling. – taken from "Bona Law", one of the Julian and Sandy sketches from Round The Horne, written by Barry Took and Marty Feldman

Translation: "Men and women of the jury, look well at the face of the poor man who stands before you, his legs trembling."

So bona to vada...oh you! Your lovely eek and your lovely riah. – taken from "Piccadilly Palare", a song by Morrissey

Translation: "So good to see...oh you! Your lovely face and your lovely hair."

As feely ommes...we would zhoosh our riah, powder our eeks, climb into our bona new drag, don our batts and troll off to some bona bijou bar. In the bar we would stand around with our sisters, vada the bona cartes on the butch omme ajax who, if we fluttered our ogle riahs at him sweetly, might just troll over to offer a light for the unlit vogue clenched between our teeth. – taken from Parallel Lives, the memoirs of renowned gay journalist Peter Burton

Translation: "As young men...we would style our hair, powder our faces, climb into our great new clothes, don our shoes and wander/walk off to some great little bar. In the bar we would stand around with our gay companions, look at the great genitals on the butch man nearby who, if we fluttered our eyelashes at him sweetly, might just wander/walk over to offer a light for the unlit cigarette clenched between our teeth."

In the Are You Being Served? episode "The Old Order Changes", Captain Peacock asks Mr Humphries to get "some strides for the omi with the naff riah" (i.e., trousers for the fellow with the unstylish hair).<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>