【一起听英语】伦敦英语

方言存在于世界各地，不止汉语有很多地方性的方言，英语也有方言....

Yvonne: Hello, I'm Yvonne Archer¹.

Alice: I'm Alice.

Yvonne: And this is 6 Minute English! Now, like me, you were born in London, weren't

you Alice?

Alice: Yes I was.

Yvonne: Were you born within the sounds of Bow bells, in the East End of London?

Alice: No, I wasn’t born close enough to hear the bells ringing from a certain church

in Bow.

Yvonne: Ah, so that means officially, you’re not a Cockney. But I imagine like me Alice,

you're probably interested in "Evolving² English – One Language, Many

Voices". It’s an exhibition at the British Library which includes a whole

section about London English.

Alice: London English - how interesting!

Yvonne: Hmm, I thought so. Now before we continue, Alice - I've got a tricky³ little

question for you! Are you ready?

Alice: I am. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

Page 2 of 6

Yvonne: OK - in August of 2009, a business decided⁴ to officially recognise the Cockney

language by delivering its services using Cockney rhyming slang⁵ for three

months. Now can you guess what type of business it was?

a) a hotel

b) a restaurant or

c) a financial business

Alice: Oh, I'm going to guess 'a restaurant', you know, maybe something like a fish

and chips restaurant?

Yvonne: Hmm, that's a nice answer. But as usual, you'll just have to wait until later on to

find out the correct answer! Now the exhibition at the British Library tells us

about the 1500 year history of the English language, as used by people around

the world. And of course, there's information about the Cockney dialect⁶ in the

section on London English too.

Alice: Oh that's really good.

Yvonne: Mm. Now if I say, "Hello me ole china" – am I being rude, Alice?

Alice: Oh, no - not at all, that's quite friendly. You're using Cockney rhyming slang to

say: "Hello my old mate⁷ - my old friend". So in Cockney rhyming slang, a

word is replaced by another word or phrase that rhymes with it. So here,

"china" from "a china plate" is used instead of "mate". Hello me ole china!

 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

Page 3 of 6

Yvonne: OK, Cockney rhyming slang was, and is still sometimes used in the East End

of London, mainly by working people. It’s changed over the years. So let’s

hear from the exhibition’s curator, Johnny Robinson:

Insert 1: BBC Radio London

In London today, we do still hear that traditional Cockney that's been around for a long

time, but also we get British Asian English speakers, London Jamaican speakers. And so

that's been going on for, you know, a thousand years – people coming into contact with

each other and gradually changing the sounds and the words and the vocabulary that we

hear.

Yvonne: So people of Asian and of Jamaican descent⁸, for example, speak their own

versions⁹ of London English, including Cockney. And as they’ve come into

contact with people who speak traditional Cockney, it’s changed.

Alice: That's right - as people immigrate¹⁰ to London, they influence the sounds, the

words, the vocabulary that we hear. But of course, as people who speak

traditional Cockney move out of London, they also take that language with

them.

Yvonne: So, we can also hear it outside the East End of London too. You know what

Alice, I think of Cockney rhyming slang as a sort of code¹¹. When I was a child,

adults would speak it around me in Hackney because they didn’t want me to

know what they were saying.

Alice: What a good idea! And it’s said that working-class people in the East End of

London started speaking it because they didn’t want the ruling-class to

understand their conversations. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

Page 4 of 6

Yvonne: That's right. Now I’d also say that Cockney rhyming slang gives East Enders a

strong sense of identity¹², just like any other language.

Alice: That’s true. If we hear someone speaking Cockney or Cockney rhyming slang,

we immediately know they've got roots in the East End.

Yvonne: That's true. OK, here’s a treat! Let’s hear Paul Ross from BBC Radio London’s

Breakfast Show reading out a message from a listener. But, it’s all in Cockney

rhyming slang. How much will we understand?

Insert 2: BBC Radio London

"Morning Gaby and Paul", says Ian on the Dartford Crossing, "Woke up this morning,

had a jimmy, had a dig in the grave¹³, cleaned me corned beef, put on me trousers, put me

wallet in me sky, came down the apples and pears, got in mi jam jar and I'm now on me

way to work - or in my case" says Ian, "shirk".

Yvonne: Ooh, so what have you got for us, Alice?

Alice: Well, Ian from Dartford Crossing said: "had a dig in the grave" – "grave" -

shave. So he shaved when he woke up.

Yvonne: Ian also "cleaned his corned beef". Did you get that one, Alice?

Alice: Yeah – "he cleaned his corned beef" – so that's cleaning his teeth.

Yvonne: Excellent! Shall we hear the last part of that again? It's quite fast.

Alice: Yeah.

Insert 3: BBC Radio London

"… came down the apples and pears, got in me jam jar and I'm now on me way to work

– or in my case" says Ian, "shirk". 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

Page 5 of 6

Yvonne: He "came down the apple and pears" – meaning "stairs".

Alice: And then he got into his "jam jar" – his car - he got into his car.

Yvonne: Now before we go, it’s time for the answer to today’s question. Earlier, I told

you that in August of 2009, a business decided to officially recognise the

Cockney language. And it did this by delivering its services using Cockney

rhyming slang for three months. But, what type of business was it, Alice?

Alice: I thought it might be a restaurant selling something like fish and chips.

Yvonne: Good idea. But no, it was actually the financial institution.

Alice: Oh, how bizarre¹⁴! Why?

Yvonne: Well, they did it via their cash machines and they thought it would be fun if it

asked you: "please enter your Huckleberry Finn".

Alice: Ha, ha, "Huckleberry Finn" – pin!

Yvonne: Exactly. Anyway, we do hope you’ve had fun with us today on "6 Minute

English" and that you’ll join us again soon. 

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 evolving   

adj.进化的，展开的v.演变，进化( evolve的现在分词 )；（动植物等 ）进化，进化形成

参考例句：

• Language is constantly and gradually evolving. 语言在不断地缓慢发展。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our galaxy is a continuously evolving system. 我们的星系是一个不断演化的星系。 来自辞典例句

3 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

6 dialect   

n.方言，土语，地方话

参考例句：

• He wrote a play in a local dialect.他用当地方言写了一个剧本。
• They began to speak rapidly in dialect.他们开始叽里呱啦地说起地方话来。

7 mate   

n.伙伴，同事；配偶；大副；v.(使)交配

参考例句：

• Where is the mate to this glove?这副手套的另一只在哪儿？
• She has been a faithful mate to him.她一直是他忠实的配偶。

8 descent   

n.下降，下倾，斜坡，坡道，血统，世系

参考例句：

• We watched anxiously during her descent from the tree.我们焦急地看着她从树上爬下来。
• Many Americans are of English descent.许多美国人的祖籍是英国。

9 versions   

n.译本( version的名词复数 )；版本；（个人对事件的）描述；（原物的）变体

参考例句：

• There are two versions of the game, a long one and a short one. 这游戏有两个版本，一长一短。
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 immigrate   

v.（从外国）移来，移居入境

参考例句：

• 10,000 people are expected to immigrate in the next two years.接下来的两年里预计有10，000人会移民至此。
• Only few plants can immigrate to the island.只有很少的植物能够移植到这座岛上。

11 code   

n.代码，代号，密码；法典，法规，规划

参考例句：

• What's the code for Tianjin?天津的代号是多少？
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

12 identity   

n.身份，本体，特征；同一(性)，一致

参考例句：

• He never revealed his identity.他从未暴露过自己的身份。
• He showed his identity card and went in.他把工作证亮了一下就进去了。

13 grave   

n.墓穴，坟墓，雕刻工，抑音；adj.庄重的，严肃的，重大的，低沉的；vt.雕刻

参考例句：

• Marriage is the grave of love.婚姻是爱情的坟墓。
• This is a very grave matter indeed.这问题的确非常严重。

14 bizarre   

adj.奇形怪状的，怪诞的

参考例句：

• They saw a bizarre animal in the lake.他们在湖中看见一个奇怪的动物。
• The building was of bizarre construction.这建筑构造奇异。