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Richard Digance
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Richard Digance
Nov 9, 20231 min read
Chapter 41 - Brahms & Liszt - Pissed
Long before lager came to our shores working-class cockneys could never afford champagne and so, as an alternative when celebrating...
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Richard Digance
Nov 8, 20231 min read
Chapter 40 - Khyber Pass - Arse
In truth, comedy has changed dramatically since the days when Carry On films were made, particularly the innuendos. Did you know an...
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Richard Digance
Nov 7, 20231 min read
Chapter 39 - Irish Jig - Wig
Believe it or not, British people didn’t wash their hair until the 18th Century when an Indian by the name of Sake Dean Mahomed opened a...
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Richard Digance
Nov 6, 20231 min read
Chapter 38 - Pen & Ink - Stink
Creating a pen and ink at school usually meant making stink bombs that stank of rotten eggs during chemistry lessons by mixing ammonia...
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Richard Digance
Nov 5, 20231 min read
Chapter 37 - Duck & Dive - Skive
The bird that can dive the deepest is the Emperor Penguin, which, let’s be honest, has to excel at something, what with being a bird that...
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Richard Digance
Nov 4, 20231 min read
Chapter 36 - Frog & Toad - Road
The main difference between frogs and toads is that frogs jump much higher and are more likely to win Olympic medals than toads, oh and...
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Richard Digance
Nov 3, 20231 min read
Chapter 35 - Dickie Dirt - Shirt
The history of the shirt is interesting because it was originally classed as an item of underwear worn by men only, before Men Only...
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Richard Digance
Nov 2, 20231 min read
Chapter 34 - Boat Race - Face
The Boat Race, between Oxford and Cambridge crews, surely has to be one of the most boring sporting events in history. How come it’s...
33 views
Richard Digance
Nov 1, 20231 min read
Chapter 33 - Barnet Fair - Hair
Such fairs are now scattered all around Britain and are known these days as County Fairs, a collection of stalls, a few burger vans and a...
33 views
Richard Digance
Oct 31, 20231 min read
Chapter 32 - Tick Tock - Clock
When London’s Big Ben began ticking in 1859 it became the most accurate clock in the world, which makes one wonder why so many important...
36 views
Richard Digance
Oct 30, 20231 min read
Chapter 31 - Adam And Eve It - Believe It
Gor Blimey, guv, would you Adam and Eve it, is a popular cockney term that can be heard in both past cockney musicals Mary Poppins and...
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Richard Digance
Oct 29, 20231 min read
Chapter 30 - Taters In The Mould - Cold
When grown-up potatoes are approaching time for harvesting they are covered by heaps of soil, their very own blankets to help keep them...
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Richard Digance
Oct 28, 20231 min read
Chapter 29 - Harry Wragg - Fag
Harry was a successful jockey born in 1902 who won The Derby three times. In 1936 Gallahers cigarette company produced the first...
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Richard Digance
Oct 27, 20231 min read
Chapter 28 - Joanna - Piano
Despite suggestions to the contrary, pianos existed long before Elton John and even before former pianist Liberace who played with a...
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Richard Digance
Oct 26, 20231 min read
Chapter 27 - Robert Peel - Steal
Before Peel took control of the streets with his band of merry, blue men, there were The Bow Street Runners, a notorious force founded in...
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Richard Digance
Oct 25, 20231 min read
Chapter 26 - Dog & Bone - Phone
Alexander Graham Bell is listed as one of Scotland’s greatest inventors but the truth is his family emigrated to Canada when he was a...
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Richard Digance
Oct 24, 20231 min read
Chapter 25 - Artful Dodger - Lodger
Long before The Artful Dodger became a cockney rhyming slang for lodger he was a young rogue by the actual name of Jack Dawkins, even...
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Richard Digance
Oct 23, 20231 min read
Chapter 24 - Daisy Roots - Boots
Daisy roots is cockney rhyming slang for boots and the strange thing about boots is you start by wearing them in and then you wear them...
36 views
Richard Digance
Oct 22, 20231 min read
Chapter 23 - Rub-a-dub - Tub
I use elasticated poetic licence here as rub a dub is yet another ancient cockney rhyming slang, often for a pub, but as the chapter...
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Richard Digance
Oct 21, 20232 min read
Chapter 22 - Bees & Honey - Money
There are numerous slang terms concerning finance and the oldest dating back to 1800, is, indeed, Bees and Honey. The term died out in...
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