The East End of London has always been a melting pot, and they’ve taken terms from every wave of invaders, from French Huguenot weavers in the sixteenth century to Bangladeshis of today.
The East End of London has always been a melting pot, and they’ve taken terms from every wave of invaders, from French Huguenot weavers in the sixteenth century to Bangladeshis of today. Many others have come from their own eye-opening experiences overseas during the period of empire and two world wars. Shufti, for “have a look at,” and buckshee, for “something that is free,” both come from India. “Let’s have a parlyvoo” (meaning “a chat”) comes obviously from the French parlez-vous. Less obvious is the East End expression san fairy ann, meaning “don’t mention it, no problem,” which is a corruption of the French “ça ne fait rien.” The cockneys have also devised hundreds of terms of their own. “Hang about” means “wait a minute.” “Leave it out” means “stop, don’t keep on at me.” “Straight up” means “honestly, that’s the truth.” Someone who is misbehaving is “out of order” or “taking liberties.”
