Polari is a form of theatrical slang that uses rhyming slang, backslang and Italian words, used especially by homosexuals. It was used around the 1930s - 1970s, and can be classed as a language variety, a sociolect or an anti-language.
It is mainly gay men that used Polari, although straight men who were connected to the theatre also used it.
Around 20 core words were known to almost all speakers, however, researchers have found up to 500 Polari terms. There were lots of different variations and meanings of the same words.
Some examples of Polari words:
Riah - hair, a lot of Polari words are formed through backslang (pronouncing a word that is spelt backward), e.g. esong, ecaf, doog gels
Numbers to twelve - una, dewey, tray, quattro, chinqua, say, setter, otter, nobber, daiture, lepta, kenza
Matlocks - teeth
Betty Bracelets/Hilda Handcuffs/Lily Law - the police
Nanti - a general negator used in various phrases (nanty handbag - I've got no money)
Omees and palones - men and women
Bona - good
Vada - to look
People used Polari for many reasons. One was because it excluded outsiders who wouldn't be able to tell what they were talking about, and allowed gay people to hide their sexuality. Another reason was to be able to talk about other people while they were present. As well as a way of creating a humorous and camp performance, it could have also been used as a form of attack, to insult or humiliate others.
As the discrimination of homosexual decreased in 1967, it meant that there was less need to use a secret form of communication within the gay community. Gay liberationists later wanted to move away from camp stereotypes of gay men, Polari was becoming less used and more old fashioned.
No comments:
Post a Comment