Rhyming slang is a form of code language commonly associated with cockneys in England. In most rhyming slang, the slang terms consist of two or more words each. The last word of the term is a rhyme or assonance of the word that would be used in normal speech. For example, in the rhyming slang used by the London cockneys, tit for tat means hat, and butcher’s hook means look.
People who speak in rhyming slang often omit the rhyming words. A cockney speaker might say “Take a butcher’s at that titfer” for “Look at that hat.” Some phrases from cockney rhyming slang are well known and used in everyday speech. For example, the phrase brass tacks originated as rhyming slang for facts. Cockney slang may have developed as a code used by thieves.
