Every year, on the first Friday of August, many adults come together to celebrate the refreshing drink that is beer.
And while the beloved beverage has refreshed people across the globe throughout history, some could argue that a pint of beer at a local pub is one of the most quintessentially British things one can do.
To celebrate, language learning app Babbel has put together a list of booze-related slang from across the UK.
In London, there are numerous co*ckney rhyming slang phrases that are all about beer. Here is a look at some of those traditional phrases that you can use for this year’s International Beer Day.
London co*ckney rhyming slang about beer
For something to be an acceptable rhyming slang, it needs to actually rhyme with the original word. That’s why “pig’s ear” and “King Lear” are two of the most popular words for beer.
When ordering half a pint of beer, you can use the phrase “cow’s half” and, once it gets you pissed, aka drunk, you can refer to the state you’re in as “Brahms and Liszt” or “elephant’s trunk”.
There are multiple slang phrases for the pub, but some of the most popular ones are “rub-a-dub” and “nuclear sub”.
London co*ckney rhyming slang for other alcoholic beverages
There is a co*ckney rhyming slang word for every drink you can think of. Wine, for instance, is Calvin Klein, and a “gold watch” is a Scotch.
When ordering gin and tonic, you can say “philharmonic”, for rum, “Tom thumb”, and for gin, “Vera Lynn”.
What is rhyming slang?
Rhyming slang is idioms traditionally used by co*ckneys who were born within hearing of the Bow Bells of the East End of London.
It sees the speaker exchange a word with a phrase of two or more words that rhymes with the original.
There is co*ckney rhyming slang for nearly everything. “Apples and pairs” refers to “stairs”, and “loaf of bread” refers to “head”, for instance.
