Can you Adam and Eve it? Dictionaries of Rhyming Slang. When it was first discussed in print, in the mid-nineteenth century, rhyming

When it was first discussed in print, in the mid-nineteenth century, rhyming slang was presented as a secret code used by thieves, though other possible origins have been suggested. 1 What is certain is that it came to be associated with London‟s costermongers and later with residents of the East End of London in general. This paper will provide an overview of the history of rhyming slang lexicography. It will argue that the popularity of rhyming slang owes more to its media representations than to its everyday use by genuine Cockneys, and also that in recent years it has become more broadly emblematic of traditional ideas of Englishness. The term cockney is derived from the Middle English cocken-ey “a cock‟s egg”. The OED records its first use with reference to small or misshapen eggs from 1362, and from c.1386 it referred to children who failed to flourish: who required or received excessive maternal attention. Townspeople in general were derided as cockneys from 1594, but by 1600 the term was being used with particular reference to Londoners, specifically those born within the sound of the bells of Mary-le-Bow Church. It was not until 1890 that Cockney was applied to the accent or dialect of London. Although Agha describes „London Cockney‟ as „the speech of the professional middle classes‟, 2 most commentators apply it to working class London accents, particularly those of the East End of London. Rhyming slang is best explained by example. This verse was included in the earliest dictionary of rhyming slang to be published as a separate volume (discussed below):