Polari / Palare

[Heathcliff]

I was chatting about this with a forum friend recently- just wondered, do any of our UK members know any Polari (or Palare, I'm not sure how to spell it). It's 1950s / 60s gay slang, as far as I know. I learned it from old episodes of Round the Horne on the radio. I've tried to write down as much as I can remember without looking it up.

bona: good

eek: face

riah: hair

lallies: legs

vader: look

omi: man

palone: woman

omi-palone: effeminate man

That's about all I know, can anyone add any others?

Edit: Morrissey even wrote a song about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOdoJWzxDJE

Edited September 13, 2015 by Heathcliff

[Bruyere]

This is so odd that you should mention this. I keep seeing the username bonanocrien on the main page of the forum and rather than seeing it as a misspell of conan o'brien my brain keeps reading the first part as bona and going, 'how cool, a polari username'.

I don't know a whole lot of polari but I find it fascinating, especially the overlaps between Romani, Yiddish and polari.

I think palone-omi is lesbian, which is one you haven't got down there. And bona to vada - nice to see you! And something I didn't realise till recently, that the word cottaging stems from polari.

I'd not actually heard of Round the Horne so I will have to seek that out.

[March Hare]

Wow, I never knew, but that is fascinating I remember hearing the word 'lallies' on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, when that one woman was host... what's her name again? Cilla Black. She used that word. I remember thinking it was Liverpudlian slang.

[Heathcliff]

I'd not actually heard of Round the Horne so I will have to seek that out.

There's no reason you should have, it's an old British radio comedy show. Round the Horne had jokes like:

(Julian and Sandy are running a restaurant)

Kenneth Horne: Ah, I see you've got 'lallie of lamb' on the menu. Is the lamb fresh?

Sandy: Oh yes, we get it fresh every day from Horace.

Kenneth Horne: Your butcher?

Sandy: Oh! D'you think so? It must be the way I've done my hair!

.............

(I'm sure this joke is going to need a step-by-step explanation, but I wanted to post it anyway )

[March Hare]

I get it.