In a play
+
play:
obra de teatro
called Pygmalion written by the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw, two characters
+
characters:
personajes
meet by chance
+
by chance:
por casualidad
on a rainy night in London. One of them is Henry Higgins, a rich professor, who is very interested in how language works
+
to work:
funcionar
. The other one is a young woman called Eliza who is selling flowers for a living
+
for a living:
para vivir
. They start talking, and Henry is fascinated by the very different way in which they speak the same language. This is mainly
+
mainly:
principalmente
because Eliza is a cockney.
origins
The word ‘cockney’ was first used in English in 1362 to mean a ‘small egg with a strange shape
+
shape:
forma
’. Later, the word changed meaning and was used to describe city men — this is because the people living in villages
+
villages:
aldeas
considered them weak
+
weak:
débil
and similar to women. In the 19th century, a cockney was a person who lived in East London. In this community, many people were poor. Some of them were involved
+
to be involved:
estar involucrado
in petty crimes like pickpocketing
+
SPEAK UP EXPLAINS
Delitos menores como el robo de carteras. El verbo "to pickpocket" se forma a partir de "to pick" y "pocket", que indica el acto que realiza un carterista. Es interesante observar el uso del sustantivo 'crime' para 'delito', precedido del adjetivo 'petty'. En español, sin embargo, utilizamos 'crimen' para referirnos a un delito especialmente atroz.
, so they were often in trouble
+
trouble:
problema
with the police. This is why they invented a special language which worked like a code
+
code:
código
: they could talk to each other without the police understanding what they were saying.
RHYMES
For example, if Eliza’s father wanted to steal
+
to steal:
robar
someone’s wallet
+
wallet:
cartera
, he could say to his friend, “Follow this man, he has a lot of bees
+
bees:
abejas
and honey
+
honey:
miel
,” meaning ‘he has a lot of money’. Or if he wanted to talk about a beautiful woman’s legs without her knowing, he was able
+
to be able:
ser capaz
to say, “Look at her bacon and eggs!”, which means ‘look at her legs’. A phone was ‘dog and bone
+
bone:
hueso
’ and ‘Adam and Eve’ meant ‘believe
+
to believe:
creer
’. So how about
+
how about:
¿qué tal si?
using some cockney English next time you are on the ‘dog and bone’?
Pearly Kings and Queens, also known as ‘pearlies’, is a tradition of working-class London very much associated with the cockney culture. It originated in the 19th century, when street traders
+
street traders:
vendedores ambulantes
appointed a king and a queen as leaders of their community each year. These traders were called ‘costermongers
+
costermongers:
vendedores ambulantes
‘ – ‘costard’ being an apple and ‘monger’ being a seller–. Costermongers liked to imitate wealthy
+
wealthy:
rica
people, who used to wear pearls and parade
+
to parade:
desfilar
on Sundays in London’s parks. They took this one step further
+
one step further:
un paso más allá
by sewing
+
to sew:
cocer
lines of mother-of-pearl
+
mother-of-pearl:
madreperla
buttons into their waistcoats
+
waistcoats:
chaleco
, caps
+
caps:
gorras
and working trousers.
