倫敦人的小密語在英文中都代表着什麼意思?
Do you know your plates of meat from yourporkies? How about your trouble and strife from your tea leaf? Unless you’re anEnglish native, you may be wondering what on earth all this means.
你知道plates of meat、porkies、trouble and strife、tea leaf在英文中都代表着什麼意思嗎？除非你的母語是英語，否則你可能根本搞不清楚這些到底是什麼意思。
These words, which may sound nonsense, areknown as *cockney *rhyming slang, a system of speech used across the UK.
這些聽起來十分“無厘頭”的詞，其實是一種在英國被廣泛使用、來自倫敦的押韻俚語。
Rhyming slang has roots in 19th centuryeast London, and developed either as a method for market stall traders tocommunicate in secret or perhaps even a way for thieves to trade informationwithout giving away their game – historians are unclear of its true origin.
押韻俚語起源於19世紀的倫敦東區，可能是一種小商販之間溝通的密語或小偷間交換信息的暗號——事實上，就連歷史學家們目前也無法界定它的真正起源。
While there’s no official listof phrases –you could even make them up as you go along - the general rule isto replace one word with a two-worded phrase that rhymes with it.
並沒有哪個官方名單列舉這些表達——你甚至都可以自己創造一些諺語——大體規則就是用一個押韻的雙單詞詞組來替代單個單詞。
For example: “dog and bone”(phone) and“Ruby Murray”(curry).
例如：“狗與骨頭dog and bone”（電話phone）以及“露比•默裏Ruby Murray”（咖喱curry）。
Fortunately, there are websites and apps tohelp if you still don’t have a Scooby Doo (clue).
幸運的是，如果你還是連一條“史酷比狗狗Scooby Doo”（線索clue）都沒有的話，還可以求助一些網站和應用。
“I’d like as many Londoners as possible to have a go, let us know howthey get on and add the words we don’t know about,”DickHoweson, the creator of uTalk, a rhyming slang translation app, told atits launch in July.
“我希望倫敦人儘可能都來試一試（這個應用），告訴大家他們如何使用押韻俚語，分享一些大家不知道的用法，”押韻諺語翻譯應用uTalk的創始人迪克•豪爾森七月發佈該應用時，向 表示。
The app’s release comes justa few years after a survey conducted by the Museum of London suggested thatrhyming slang is declining in use.
該應用發佈幾年前，倫敦博物館開展的一項押韻俚語調查指出，押韻俚語正在逐漸衰亡。
The museum claimed after the 2012 survey of2,000 UK residents that rhyming slang was soon to be “brown bread”(dead)after results showed that most *respondents’knowledge of it haddisappeared.
2012年，2000名英國居民參與了該調查，結果顯示，大多數參與調查者並不具備押韻諺語的相關知識。因此，博物館認爲押韻俚語很快就會變成“黑麪包brown bread”（“死亡dead”）。
“For many people, cockney rhyming slang is *intrinsic to the identityof London.
“對許多人而言，倫敦東區的押韻諺語是一種倫敦人身份的固有象徵。
However this research suggests that thecockney dialect itself may not be enjoying the same level of popularity,”said themuseum’s curator, Alex Werner.
然而，這項調查卻顯示，倫敦方言自身卻並非如此普及，”博物館館長亞歷克斯•維爾納說道。
Despite this, rhyming slang seems to beenjoying a *revival.
儘管如此，押韻俚語似乎正在悄然復興。
Not only does it have its own apps andwebsites, “cockney”is even a language option on some ATMs in east London –perfect forlocals in need of some sausage and mash (cash).
現在它不光有了自己的應用和網站，在倫敦東區的一些ATM機上甚至出現了“倫敦方言”甚這一語言選項——對於需要“香腸和麥芽漿sausage and mash”（“現金cash”）的本地人來說，這堪稱完美。
But why do people still use this form ofdialect?
但爲什麼人們仍在使用這種方言呢？
“It makes me smile whenever I hear people using rhyming slang and Itry to keep it in use myself,”says Ian Groves, 53.
“每當我聽見人們用押韻俚語的時候，我都十分開心。 我自己也嘗試着繼續使用這些諺語，”現年53歲的伊恩•格羅夫斯說道。
Ian grew up in London but now lives furthersouth.
伊恩在倫敦長大，目前住在更南邊的地區。
He was brought up hearing rhyming slang andsays it brings back memories of his younger days.
他聽着這些押韻俚語長大，稱這讓他回憶起了青蔥歲月。
“My parents were both Londoners and we used rhyming slang around thehouse.
“我父母都是倫敦人，所以我們總在家裏說這種押韻俚語。
I’d be told to wash myGerman bands (hands) before dinner and my grandma would go up the apples andpears (stairs) at bedtime,”he says.
從小，他們就教我晚飯前要洗‘德國樂隊German bands’（‘手hands’），我的祖母在睡前上‘蘋果和梨apples and pears’（‘樓梯stairs’），”他說道。
“It reminds me of my youth.”
“這些俚語讓我想起了整個青春。
So if you really want to show off yourEnglish skills on a trip to the UK, walking into a cafe in east London, askingfor a cup of Rosie Lee (tea) then telling the cashier to keep the rifle range(change) wouldn’t be a shabby start.
所以，如果你真的想在英國的旅途中秀一把英語，就走進東倫敦的一家咖啡館，點一杯“羅西•李Rosie Lee “（茶tea），然後告訴收銀員不用找“打靶場rifle range”（零錢change）了。這一定會是個不錯的開始。
