Found out about a language yesterday that I’d never previously heard of – Polari. This from Wikipedia:
So you already know it’s going to be fabulous (or fabulosa). A colleague told me I had used a Polari word in a previous post, completely unwittingly – slap, for makeup. In fact, there are quite a few Polari words that are reasonably well known: dish (attractive man); dizzy (scatterbrained); scarper (to run off); hoofer (dancer); kharzi or carsey (toilet). Many words are borrowed from other languages, particularly Italian (mangarie for food), and some are normal English words that have been played around with, like ecaf and riah which are backslang for face and hair. The language peaked between the 30’s and the 50’s, as a secret code for gay people when it was still illegal. This explains the number of related words: butch; camp (from Known As Male Prostitute, can you believe it??); drag; mince (to walk affectedly); naff (and you won’t believe this: from Not Available For F**king). I’m not going to mention cottage or it’s derivatives. The most famous usage of Polari is by the characters Julian and Sandy, a very camp couple who had a regular slot on the 1960’s BBC radio show Round The Horne.
You can listen to episodes on You Tube, and they are chock full of double entendres, which the studio audience seem to find hysterically funny (and so they are), but which does seem odd when you know that being gay was still mostly illegal, and camp men were at risk of being beaten up on a regular basis. In fact, the camp character was a comedy staple in Britain in the 70’s shows I used to watch with my family, like Are You Being Served? and Dick Emery.
Interestingly enough, the increased exposure of Polari, and it’s more widespread usage, combined with a backlash against the popular camp caricature amongst people fighting for gay rights, led to its downfall. The coup de gras was said to be when Princess Anne fell off her horse during an Olympic event and landed in the mud, and she told the paparazzi (or annoying press photographers, as they were known then) to Naff Off. Clearly a secret underworld slang has totally lost it’s credibility when even Royals are using, so that was the end of that. Although, to be honest, I would have thought Her Royal Highness would have made a far better gay icon than the singing budgie, or that girl with the red shoes and the little dog, but what would I know? In any event, I’ve been invited to my very first gay wedding in Germany next year, which I’m really looking forward to. It’s certainly a much better time to be gay now than back then – although, as with your quality of life as a woman, it depends as much on where you are, as when.
Polari has had a bit of a resurgence recently, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have even translated the Bible into a Polari version.
I believe they also do weddings.
With thanks to Dr T