Tamas,

On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:12:15 +0000, Tamas Rudnai wrote:

> Oh, forgot to mention Cockney :-) Is anybody understand Londoners? :-)

Cockney != Londoner  :-)  Strictly speaking a Cockney is someone born within the sound of Bow Bells (in the East End of London), but many people 
speak with an accent that's difficult for people who aren't used to it to understand.  Rhyming slang has travelled far from its Cockney origins, and is 
used by people who have never even been to London!  It was originally developed to enable crooks to speak to each other without being overheard 
by outsiders, but nowadays people use it either as shorthand, or as a way to make conversation more colourful.  The reason it's difficult to 
understand is that you take a phrase whose last word rhymes with the word you mean, then remove the rhyming word (so "mate" = "Dutch plate", so 
saying "me ol' dutch" doesn't give any clues).  If you hear one you don't know, you need to cast around for possible rhymes that are relevant.  Or you 
could just ignore it...  :-)

> That's one of the reason why I do not watch Eastenders :-)

There are *so many* reasons for not watching it!

Cheers me ol' china,  (there's more than one type of plate :-)


Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


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