You've all heard of rhyming slang - 'apples and pears' meaning stairs, 'trouble and strife' meaning wife, etc. Some of them get shortened, so unless you know the whole expression, you'd have trouble working out what was actually meant:
"Would you Adam that?" is "Would you Adam and Eve that?" or "Would you believe that?" "Can I use your dog?" is "Can I use your dog and bone?" or "Can I use your phone?" Last night on QI (Quite Interesting quiz) rhyming was mentioned again, including 'orange' for which Rich Hall (a US comedian) suggested 'dorringe' as his way of pronouncing 'door hinge' and two examples of rhyming slang were given. The first a "rubber gregory" which means a cheque that bounces (Gregory Peck = cheque), but the second one is new and really took some working out. Apparently a "Listerine" is someone who dislikes Americans, and it's arrived at: The slang term for an American in the UK is Yank Yank rhymes with septic tank and is shortened to septic Anti means against which leads to anti-septic a brand of anti-septic mouthwash is Listerine Rhyming slang was intended to confuse outsiders, and 'Listerine' certainly does. Jean in Poole To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
