View source for Polari

{{About|the traditional cant|the album by Olly Alexander|Polari (album)|the LGBTQ literary award|Polari Prize}}
{{Short description|Form of slang}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox language
| name          = Polari
| nativename    = Palare, Parlary, Palarie, Palari
| region        = United Kingdom
| speakers      = none
| ref           = e18
| familycolor   = creole
| family        = English-based [[slang]] and other [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] influences
| iso3          = pld
| glotto        = pola1249
| glottorefname = Polari
| notice        = IPA
}}
{{LGBTQ sidebar}}

'''Polari''' ({{etymology|it|{{wikt-lang|it|parlare}}|to talk}}) is a form of [[slang]] or [[cant (language)|cant]] historically used primarily in the [[United Kingdom]] among the [[sexuality and gender identity-based cultures|gay subculture]], as well as some actors, circus and fairground performers, [[professional wrestler]]s, [[merchant navy]] sailors, [[criminal]]s, and [[prostitutes]].

There is some debate about its origins,<ref>{{cite web|last=Quinion|first=Michael|year=1996|title=How Bona to Vada Your Eek!|work=WorldWideWords|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/polari.htm|access-date=20 February 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907173251/http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/polari.htm|archive-date=7 September 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> but it can be traced to at least the 19th century and possibly as early as the 16th century.<ref>''Collins English Dictionary'', Third Edition</ref> Polari has a long-standing connection with [[Punch and Judy]] street puppeteers, who traditionally used it to converse.<ref name="Mayhew">{{cite book|last=Mayhew|first=Henry|title=London Labour and the London Poor, 1861|volume=3|publisher=Dover Press|location=New York|date=1968|page=47}}</ref>

==Terminology==
Alternative spellings include ''Parlare'', ''Parlary'', ''Palare'', ''Palarie'' and ''Palari''.

==Description==
[[File:Polari Rainbow Plaque.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A circular rainbow-coloured plaque with text about Polari|[[Leeds Pride#Rainbow Plaques|Rainbow Plaque]] on [[Leeds City Varieties]] theatre]]
Polari is a mixture of Romance ([[Italian language|Italian]]<ref name="BritishSpiesLicensed">{{cite news|title=British Spies: Licensed to be Gay|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=19 August 2008|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1833896,00.html|access-date=9 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822213014/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1833896,00.html|archive-date=22 August 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> or [[Mediterranean Lingua Franca]]), [[Romani language|Romani]], [[rhyming slang]], sailors' slang and [[thieves' cant]], which later expanded to contain words from [[Yiddish]] and 1960s [[drug subculture]] slang. It was constantly evolving, with a small core lexicon of about 20 words, including: ''{{lang|pld|bona}}'' (good),<ref name="liverpoolmuseums.org.uk">{{cite web |title=The Secret Language of Polari – Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool Museums |url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/visit/floor-plan/life-at-sea/gaylife/polari.aspx |access-date=5 July 2018 |website=Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk}}</ref> ''{{lang|pld|ajax}}'' (nearby), ''{{lang|pld|eek}}'' (face), ''{{lang|pld|cod}}'' (bad, in the sense of tacky or vile), ''{{lang|pld|naff}}'' (bad, in the sense of drab or dull, though borrowed into mainstream British English with a meaning more like that of ''{{lang|pld|cod}}''), ''{{lang|pld|lattie}}'' (room, house, flat), ''{{lang|pld|nanti}}'' (not, no), ''{{lang|pld|omi}}'' (man), ''{{lang|pld|palone}}'' (woman), ''{{lang|pld|riah}}'' (hair), ''{{lang|pld|zhoosh}}'' or ''{{lang|pld|tjuz}}'' (smarten up, stylise), ''{{lang|pld|TBH}}'' ('to be had', sexually accessible), ''{{lang|pld|trade}}'' (sex) and ''{{lang|pld|vada}}'' (see).<ref>{{cite book|last=Baker|first=Paul|year=2002|title=Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang|location=London|publisher=Continuum|isbn=0-8264-5961-7}}</ref>

There were once two distinct forms of Polari in London: an [[East End of London|East End]] version which stressed [[Cockney]] rhyming slang and a [[West End of London|West End]] version which stressed theatrical and classical influences. There was some interchange between the two.<ref>{{cite documentary|last=McKenna|first=David|title=A Storm in a Teacup|publisher=Channel 4 Television|year=1993}}</ref>

In the [[LGBTQ people|LGBTQ]] community, Polari also involves inverting gendered personal pronouns and names, typically switching them from male forms to female forms. For example, ''he'' may become ''she'' (known as ''[[Gender pronoun transposition|she-ing]]''), and the name ''Paul'' may become ''Pauline''.<ref name="Lavender Language">{{Cite web |title=Lavender Language, The Queer Way to Speak |url=https://www.out.com/out-exclusives/2016/8/17/lavender-linguistics-queer-way-speak |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=www.out.com |language=en |quote=Polari was rife with 'she-ing', an academic term that refers to the linguistic practice of feminizing people and things. She-ing appears almost universally and across centuries in gay language, from Peru to the Philippines to South Africa (where gay slang is called ''Gayle''), to Israel (called ''oxtchit'', derived from an Arabic word meaning 'my sister'), to Soviet-era Russia [in the gay slang ''goluboy''].}}</ref><ref name="lithub 2019">{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Paul |date=22 August 2019 |title=The Feints and Jabs of Polari, Britain's Gay Slang |url=https://lithub.com/the-feints-and-jabs-of-polari-britains-gay-slang/ |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=Literary Hub |language=en-US |quote=In the Polari speaker's world, gender was linguistically reversed—he was she and (less commonly) she became he. This practice of feminizing through language, referred to by artist and Sister of Perpetual Indulgence (Manchester branch) Jez Dolan, is referred to as 'she-ing'. She-ing is one of the aspects of Polari that has survived into more recent decades, and the practice was so pervasive at a particular bar on Canal Street in Manchester's Gay Village that a 'She-box' was installed a few years ago, akin to a 'Swear-box', where patrons would have to put in a few coins if they she'd someone, with the proceeds being donated to charity.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Motschenbacher|first=Heiko|title=Review of Fabulosa! The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language, by Paul Baker|journal=Language|volume=96|issue=4|year=2020|pages=938–940|doi=10.1353/lan.2020.0067|quote=In the domain of personal reference, Polari speakers often draw on inverted appellation practices (for example, 'she-ing'—the use of female pronouns to refer to male social actors), objectifying use of the pronoun it, endearment terms, metaphorical uses of kinship terms, and camp names.}}</ref>

==Usage==
From the 19th century on, Polari was used in London fish markets, theatres, fairgrounds, and circuses, hence the many borrowings from [[Romani language|Romani]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jivani|first=Alkarim|title=It's Not Unusual: A History of Lesbian and Gay Britain in the Twentieth Century|isbn=0-253-33348-2|location=Bloomington|oclc=37115577|date=January 1997}}</ref> As many homosexual men worked in theatrical entertainment, it was also used among the gay subculture to disguise homosexuals from hostile outsiders and [[undercover police]]men. It was also used extensively in the British [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]], where many gay men worked as waiters, stewards, and entertainers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/visit/floor-plan/life-at-sea/gaylife/ |title=Gay Men in the Merchant Marine |publisher=[[Liverpool Maritime Museum]] |access-date=9 May 2018 }}</ref>

According to ''Oxford English Dictionary'' associate editor [[Peter Gilliver]] little written evidence of Polari exists before the 1890s. The dictionary's entry for ''rozzer'' (policeman) includes a quote from P. H. Emerson's 1893 book ''Signor Lippo – Burnt Cork Artiste'':<ref>{{cite web|url=https://word-ancestry.livejournal.com/71450.html|title=Historical Origins of English Words and Phrases|website=[[Live Journal]]|date=24 October 2008|access-date=9 May 2018}}</ref> "If the rozzers was to see him in bona clobber they'd take him for a gun." ("If the police were to see him finely dressed, they would know that he is a thief.")<ref name=guardian>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/dec/10/life1.lifemagazine3 |last=D'Silva|first=Beverley |work=[[The Observer]] |title=Mind Your Language |date=10 December 2000 |access-date=9 May 2018 }}</ref>

The almost identical ''Parlyaree'' has been spoken in fairgrounds since at least the 17th century<ref>{{cite book|last=Partridge|first=Eric|year=1937|title=Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English}}</ref> and is still used by show travellers in England and Scotland. As theatrical booths, circus acts, and menageries were once common parts of European fairs, it is likely that the roots of Polari/Parlyaree lie in the period before both theatre and circus became independent of fairgrounds. The Parlyaree spoken on fairgrounds tends to borrow much more from Romani, as well as other languages and cants spoken by travelling people, such as thieves' cant and [[back slang]].{{fact|date=October 2025}}

[[Henry Mayhew]] gave an account of Polari as part of an interview with a [[Punch and Judy]] showman in the 1850s. The discussion he recorded references Punch's arrival in England, crediting these early shows to an Italian performer called Porcini ([[John Payne Collier]]'s account calls him Porchini, a literal rendering of the Italian pronunciation).<ref>{{cite book|last=Collier|first=John Payne|title=Punch and Judy|publisher=Thomas Hailes Lacey|location=London|year=1859|author-link=John Payne Collier}}</ref> Mayhew provides the following:
{{blockquote|
''Punch Talk''<br />
"{{lang|pld|Bona Parle}}" means language; name of patter. "{{lang|pld|Yeute munjare}}" – no food. "{{lang|pld|Yeute lente}}" – no bed. "{{lang|pld|Yeute bivare}}" – no drink. I've "{{lang|pld|yeute munjare}}", and "{{lang|pld|yeute bivare}}", and, what's worse, "{{lang|pld|yeute lente}}". This is better than the costers' talk, because that ain't no slang and all, and this is a broken Italian, and much higher than the costers' lingo. We know what o'clock it is, besides.<ref name="Mayhew"/>}}

Additional accounts of particular words relate to puppet performance:<ref name="Mayhew"/>

*"'{{lang|pld|Slumarys}}' – figures, frame, scenes, properties.
*"'{{lang|pld|Slum}}' – call, or unknown tongue" ("unknown" is a reference to the "[[swazzle]]", a voice modifier used by Punch performers).

===Decline===
Polari had begun to fall into disuse among the gay subculture by the late 1960s. The popularity of the BBC radio comedy ''[[Round the Horne]]'', with its [[Camp (style)|camp]] gay characters [[Julian and Sandy]], ensured that some of the Polari terms they used became public knowledge.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/17/gayrights.comment |title= Polari, the Gay Slang, Is Being Revived |first=Colin |last=Richardson |date=17 January 2005 |newspaper=The Guardian |location= London |access-date=5 July 2018}}</ref> The need for a secret means of communication in the subculture also declined with the partial decriminalisation of adult homosexual acts in England and Wales under the [[Sexual Offences Act 1967]]; in the 1970s, the [[gay liberation]] movement began to view Polari as old-fashioned and perpetuating harmful camp stereotypes.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Paul |date=22 March 2019 |title=What's Polari? |url=https://wp.lancs.ac.uk/fabulosa/whats-polari/ |access-date=11 April 2024 |website=Fabulosa! The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language |publisher=[[Lancaster University]]}}</ref>

===Mainstream usage===
[[File:Bona Togs shop Jersey.jpg|thumb|alt=Storefront with "Bona Togs" signage in white letters on a dark background|''Bona Togs'', a [[St Helier]] shop named in Polari]]
A number of words from Polari have entered mainstream slang. The list below includes words in general use with the meanings listed: ''acdc'', ''barney'', ''blag'', ''butch'', ''camp'', ''khazi'', ''cottaging'', ''hoofer'', ''mince'', ''ogle'', ''scarper'', ''slap'', ''strides'', ''tod'', ''[rough] trade''.{{fact|date=October 2025}}

The Polari word ''{{lang|pld|naff}}'', meaning inferior or tacky, has an uncertain etymology. [[Michael Quinion]] says it is probably from the 16th-century Italian word ''{{lang|it|gnaffa}}'', meaning "a despicable person".<ref name="quinaff">{{cite web |url= http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-naf1.htm |title=Naff |last=Quinion |first=Michael |work=[[World Wide Words]] |access-date=10 January 2010}}</ref> There are a number of [[False etymology|false etymologies]], many based on [[backronym]]s—"Not Available For Fucking", "Normal As Fuck", etc. The phrase "naff off" was used [[euphemistically]] in place of "fuck off" along with the [[intensifier]] "naffing" in [[Keith Waterhouse]]'s ''[[Billy Liar]]'' (1959).<ref name=billy1>{{cite book |last=Waterhouse |first=Keith |title=Billy Liar |publisher=[[Michael Joseph (publisher)|Michael Joseph]] |year=1959 |pages=35, 46 |isbn=0-7181-1155-9}}
''p35'' "Naff off, Stamp, for Christ sake!"&nbsp;''p46'' "Well which one of them's got the naffing engagement ring?"</ref> Usage of "naff" increased in the 1970s when the [[television]] [[Situation comedy|sitcom]] ''[[Porridge (1974 TV series)|Porridge]]'' employed it as an alternative to expletives which were not broadcastable at the time.<ref name=quinaff/> [[Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Anne]] allegedly told a reporter to "naff off" at the Badminton horse trials in April 1982.<ref>{{cite book|title=The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English|last1=Dalzell|first1=Tom|last2=Victor|first2=Terry|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|volume=II|page=1349}}</ref> However, the photographers who were present have since stated that this was a censored version of what she actually said.<ref>{{cite news |title=Princess Never Said 'Naff Off' – 'We Made It Up' |url= https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1175396/princess-anne-royal-news-princess-royal-family-latest-update-press-naff-off-spt |work=Daily Express |location= London |date=8 September 2019 |first=Abbie |last=Llewelyn |access-date=28 January 2022}}</ref>

"{{lang|pld|Zhoosh}}" ({{IPAc-en|ʒ|ʊ|ʃ|,_|ʒ|uː|ʃ}};<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/zhoosh|title=Definition for Zhoosh – Oxford Dictionaries Online (World English) |website=Oxforddictionaries.com|access-date=9 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911183034/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/zhoosh|archive-date=11 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> alternatively spelled "{{lang|pld|zhuzh}}," "{{lang|pld|jeuje}}," and a number of other variety spellings<ref name="Phelan">{{Cite web |last=Phelan |first=Hayley |date=31 January 2022 |title='Jeuje,' 'Zhoosh,' 'Zhuzh': A Word of Many Spellings, and Meanings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/style/jeuje-zhoosh-zhuzh.html |access-date=12 January 2024 |website=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013223912/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/style/jeuje-zhoosh-zhuzh.html |archive-date=13 October 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>), meaning to smarten up, style or improve something, became commonplace in the mid-2000s, having been used in the 2003 United States TV series ''[[Queer Eye for the Straight Guy]]'' and ''[[What Not to Wear (American TV series)|What Not to Wear]]''.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} "{{lang|pld|Jush}}", an alternative spelling of the word, was popularised by drag queen [[Jasmine Masters]] after her appearance on the [[RuPaul's Drag Race (season 7)|seventh series]] of [[RuPaul's Drag Race]] in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://youtube.com/watch?v=39BWUUE72Sg&feature=share |title=Jasmine Masters the Meaning of Jush |date=7 April 2017 |via=YouTube|access-date=26 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title='Drag Race' Queen Jasmine Masters Explains What 'Jush' Means: Watch|url= https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/jasmine-masters-drag-race-queen-jush-video-8458987/|magazine=Billboard |date=4 June 2018 |first=Rebecca |last=Schiller |access-date=26 November 2022}}</ref>

===Legacy and revival===
Since the late 20th and early 21st century, there has been a renewed interest in Polari, especially as a part of LGBTQ+ heritage.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=23 January 2020 |title=The Revival of Polari, the U.K.'s Secret Queer Language |url= https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/polari-uk-queer-language |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=MEL Magazine }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=25 September 2018 |title=The New Book Written in Polari, a Secret Language for Queer Survival |url= https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/41316/1/cruising-for-lavs-polari-the-secret-language-for-queer-survival |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=Dazed }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Baker |first=Paul |date=28 February 2013 |title=Polari: The Lost-and-Found Language of Gay Men (PDF) |url= https://babelzine.co.uk/ArticlePDFs/No2%20Article%20-%20Polari.pdf |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=Babel: The Language Magazine}}</ref> [[Gay's the Word (bookshop)|Gay's the Word]] has held workshops in Polari, the [[Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence]] have translated (partially relexified) the King James Bible into Polari,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rediscovering Polari: What Is Polari And Why Did It Die Out? |url=https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/what-is-polari |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=Babbel Magazine }}</ref> and Madame Jo Jo's nightclub in Soho taught its staff to speak Polari.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=6 December 2004 |title='Fabulosa' Lingo Revived at Club |work=BBC News |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4071811.stm |access-date=12 October 2024 }}</ref>

{{Block quote|Now as ''reefing fakements'' offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.| ''Bible into Polari'' 1 Corinthians 8:1 (Polari in ''italics'')}}

Linguist [[Paul Baker (linguist)|Paul Baker]] attributes increased interest in Polari primarily to the growing body of academic work on the subject.<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":1"/> Author George Reiner explains that "the revival of a language like Polari offers the possibility of an alternate queer linguistic space" at a time when closing LGBTQ+ venues and dating apps have reduced queer social spaces.<ref name=":1"/>

In 2007, writer and activist [[Paul Burston]] launched Polari Literary Salon in London to platform LGBTQ+ writers. He launched the [[Polari Prize|Polari First Book Prize]] in 2011. This was followed by the Polari Prize for LGBTQ+ writers at all stages of their career in 2019 and the Polari Children's & YA Prize in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Polari Prize 2024 |url= https://www.polarisalon.com/copy-of-polari-prize-2024 |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=polarisalon }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Paul Burston: The Polari Prize and Beyond |url= https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/writing-hub/paul-burston-the-polari-prize-and-beyond/ |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=National Centre for Writing }}</ref> Other organisations have also taken names inspired by Polari, such as ''Polari Magazine'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Polari Magazine |work= Polari Magazine |url= http://www.polarimagazine.com/about-polari-magazine/ |access-date=12 October 2024 }}</ref> ''Vada Magazine'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forward |first=Stuart |date=27 November 2012 |title=Meet the Team |url= https://vadamagazine.com/meet-the-team |access-date=12 October 2024 }}</ref> and VADA LGBTQ Community Theatre Company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=VADA History |url= https://vadatheatre.weebly.com/vada-history.html |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=Vada: LGBTQ Community Theatre }}</ref>

In 2012 and 2013, Manchester artists Jez Dolan and Joe Richardson presented a performance-based tour and exhibition titled ''Polari Mission'', which explored LGBTQ+ history and language use in the UK. This was presented at [[John Rylands Research Institute and Library|The John Rylands Library]] and [[Contact Theatre]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Polari Mission Exhibit |url= http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/exhibitions/polarimission/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222545/http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/exhibitions/polarimission/ |archive-date=2 December 2013 |website=John Rylands Library}}</ref> In 2015, Dolan also translated sections of the 1957 [[Wolfenden report|Wolfenden Report]] into Polari for a commission from the UK Parliament.<ref>{{Cite web |last=James |first=Louise |date=31 January 2022 |title=In Focus: LGBT+ History Month: Jez Dolan's 'Wolfenden' |url=https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/lgbt-history-month-jez-dolans-wolfenden/ |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=House of Lords Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Wolfenden by Jez Dolan |url=http://parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/collections1/sexual-offences-act-1967/wolfenden-by-jez-dola |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=UK Parliament}}</ref> Dolan and Richardson also worked with Paul Baker to produce a 500-word dictionary of Polari as an app.<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 August 2012 |title=Secret Gay Language Polari Gets an 'Appy Return |url= https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/secret-gay-language-polari-gets-692422 |access-date=12 October 2024 |website= Manchester Evening News }}</ref>

In December 2016, to launch LGBT+ History Month 2017 and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the [[Sexual Offences Act 1967|1967 Sexual Offences Act]], poet [[Adam Lowe (writer)|Adam Lowe]] performed his Polari poem "Vada That" in Parliament's [[Speaker's House]] with accompaniment by musician Nikki Franklin.<ref>{{Cite web  |date=1 December 2016 |title=Parliament's Speaker's Chamber Goes Rainbow to Launch LGBT History Month 2017 |url= https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/2016/12/parliaments-speakers-chamber-goes-rainbow-to-launch-lgbt-history-month-2017/ |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=LGBT+ History Month }}</ref> In 2017, a service at [[Westcott House, Cambridge]] was conducted in Polari. Trainee priests held the service to commemorate [[LGBT History Month]]; following media attention, [[Chris Chivers]], the principal, expressed his regret.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 February 2017 |title=Church 'Regret' as Trainees Hold Service in Gay Slang |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38863545 |access-date=4 February 2017 |website=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sherwood |first=Harriet |date=3 February 2017 |title=C of E College Apologises for Students' Attempt to 'Queer Evening Prayer' |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/03/church-of-england-college-apologises-students-queer-evening-prayer |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Flood |first=Rebecca |date=4 February 2017 |title=Church Expresses 'Huge Regret' After Cambridge LGBT Commemoration Service Held in Gay Slang Language |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/church-of-england-gay-slang-language-service-regret-lgbt-commemoration-regret-polari-westcott-house-a7562561.html |access-date=9 May 2018 |work=The Independent |location=London}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite news |last=Robb |first=Simon |date=4 February 2017 |title=Priests Delivered a Service in Gay Slang and the Church Weren't Happy |url= http://metro.co.uk/2017/02/04/priests-delivered-a-service-in-hilarious-gay-slang-but-the-church-werent-happy-6426464/ |access-date=9 May 2018 |work=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]] |location=London}}</ref>

In 2019, [[Reaktion Books]] published Paul Baker's third book on Polari, ''Fabulosa!: The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=Paul |title=Fabulosa!: The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-78914-294-5 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Fabulosa! by Paul Baker from Reaktion Books |url= http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781789141320 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200930103229/http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?ISB=9781789141320 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |access-date=5 August 2020 |website=reaktionbooks.co.uk |url-status=dead}}</ref> His first two books on the subject (''Polari: Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang'' and ''Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men'') were published in 2002 and 2003, respectively.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=Paul |title=Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang |url= https://archive.org/details/fantabulosadicti0000bake |via=Internet Archive|date=2004 |isbn=978-0-8264-7343-1 }}</ref>

==In popular culture==
* Polari (spelt "Polare") was popularised on the 1960s BBC radio show ''[[Round the Horne]]''. The [[camp (style)|camp]] gay Polari-speaking characters [[Julian and Sandy]] were played by [[Hugh Paddick]] and [[Kenneth Williams]].<ref name="Stevens">{{cite book|last=Stevens|first=Christopher|title=Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams|publisher=John Murray|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84854-195-5|page=206}}</ref>
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''[[Carnival of Monsters]]'' (1973), Vorg, a showman, attempts to converse with the Doctor in Polari.{{sfn|Baker|2003|p=161}}
* Ralph Filthy, a [[theatrical agent]] played by [[Nigel Planer]] in the BBC TV series ''[[Filthy Rich & Catflap]]'', regularly used Polari.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Into the World of Filthy Rich & Catflap - Comedy Rewind |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/features/comedy-rewind/filthy-rich-and-catflap/ |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=British Comedy Guide |language=en|date=12 November 2023}}</ref>
* In 1990 [[Morrissey]] released the single "[[Piccadilly Palare]]" containing a number of lyrics in Polari and exploring a subculture in which Polari was used. "Piccadilly Palare" later appeared on his compilation album ''[[Bona Drag]]'', whose title is also taken from Polari.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Kent|first=Nick|date=March 1990|title=Morrissey Interviewed by Nick Kent|magazine=The Face}}</ref>
* In ''[[Doom Patrol]]'', [[Danny the Street]] often speaks Polari.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnston |first=Rich |date=29 January 2023 |title=First Appearance Of Danny The Street & Flex Metallo- Doom Patrol #35 |url=https://bleedingcool.com/comics/first-appearance-of-danny-the-street-flex-metallo-doom-patrol-35/ |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=bleedingcool.com |language=en}}</ref>
* In his 1995 novel ''Behind Closed Doors'', ''[[Coronation Street]]'' creator [[Tony Warren]] depicts his characters using Polari on the [[LGBT community|gay scene]] of 1950s Manchester.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Warren |first=Tony |title=Behind Closed Doors |publisher=Century |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-7126-5643-6 |location=London |pages=189, 212, 239, 285, 297, 301, 307}}</ref>
* In the 1998 film ''[[Velvet Goldmine]]'', two characters speak Polari in a London nightclub. The scene has English subtitles in the American release of the film.<ref name=":2" />
* In 2015 Brian Fairbairn and Karl Eccleston made a short film, "Putting on the Dish", which features a conversation entirely in Polari.<ref>{{cite web |title=Polari, the Gay Dialect, Can Be Heard in This Great Short Film |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/07/polari-the-gay-dialect-can-be-heard-in-this-great-short-film-putting-on-the-dish.html |website=Slate |date=July 2015 |access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Watch: The Lost Language of Gay Men |url=https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2015/08/12/watch-lost-language-gay-men |website=The Advocate |date=12 August 2015 |access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref>
* The song [[Girl Loves Me|''Girl Loves Me'']] from [[David Bowie]]'s 2016 album ''[[Blackstar (album)|Blackstar]]'' features lyrics in both Polari and the fictional language [[Nadsat]] from the novel ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]].''<ref>{{cite web |last=Eastmond |first=Dean |title=Remembering Polari, the Forgotten Language of Britain's Gay Community |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/remembering-polari-the-forgotten-language-of-britains-gay-community/ |website=VICE |publisher=VICE |access-date=15 September 2025}}</ref>
* In 2018 George Reiner and Penny Burkett published ''cruising for lavs'', written mostly in Polari.<ref name=":3" />
* In 2019 the first opera in Polari, ''The Sins of the Cities of the Plain'' (based on the [[The Sins of the Cities of the Plain|book of the same title]]), premiered at Espacio Turina in [[Seville]], Spain. The [[libretto]] was written in Polari by librettist and [[playwright]] Fabrizio Funari and the music is by Germán Alonso.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.diariodesevilla.es/ocio/The-Sins-the-City-Plain_0_1357964420.html|title=Pornografía Bruitista|date=26 May 2019|website=Diario de Sevilla|language=es-ES|access-date=26 June 2019}}</ref>
* The same year, the English-language localisation of the Japanese video game ''[[Dragon Quest Builders 2]]'' included a character called Jules, who spoke in Polari with non-standard capitalisation.<ref>{{cite video game |title= Dragon Quest Builders 2 |developer= Square Enix |publisher= Square Enix |date= 20 December 2018 |platform= Nintendo Switch}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite news |url= https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-02-07-the-coded-gay-jargon-in-dragon-quest-builders-2 |title=The Coded Gay Jargon in Dragon Quest Builders 2 |last=Hawkes |first=Edward}}</ref>
* In the 2020 film ''[[Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse]]'', a young [[Roald Dahl]] runs away from home and meets "a silver-tongued, Polari-speaking eccentric who may be a figment of the boy's imagination" played by [[Bill Bailey]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Feay |first=Suzi |date=24 December 2020 |title=Roald and Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse — a Christmas Classic Is Born |url= https://www.ft.com/content/ca90d346-6e76-4daf-9e6a-e6a016dceec6 |access-date=12 October 2024 |website= Financial Times |location= London}}</ref>
* In 2023 [[Peepal Tree Press]] published [[Adam Lowe (writer)|Adam Lowe]]'s debut poetry collection ''Patterflash'', which features a number of Polari poems. The title is translated in the book's glossary as "Gossip, chat, ostentatious or pretentious speech; the lyrics pouring out of my gob".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hayter |first=Annie |date=17 June 2023 |title=Patterflash by Adam Lowe Review: Acrobatic and Winking Poems of Queer Life |url=https://www.bigissue.com/culture/books/patterflash-review-acrobatic-and-winking-poems-of-queer-life/ |access-date=21 June 2024 |website=Big Issue |language=en-US}}</ref>
* In the fourth episode of ''[[Funny Woman]]'' (2024), characters discuss BBC Radio using Polari in ''[[Round the Horne]]'' and visit a comedy club where gay and entertainment-industry characters converse in Polari.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hautzinger |first=Daniel |date=28 January 2024 |title="Funny Woman" Recap: Episode 4 |url=https://interactive.wttw.com/playlist/2024/01/28/funny-woman-recap-episode-4 |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=WTTW}}</ref>
* British singer [[Olly Alexander]] released his debut album ''[[Polari (album)|Polari]]'' on 7 February 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kheraj |first=Alim |date=11 October 2024 |title=Olly Alexander Announces New Album Polari Along with Single "Cupid's Bow" |url=https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/olly-alexander-new-album-polari-single-cupids-bow-474626/ |access-date=11 January 2025 |website=Attitude |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Glossary==
Numbers:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Number
! Definition
! Italian numbers
|-
|''medza'', ''medzer''||half||''mezza''
|-
|''una'', ''oney''||one || ''uno''
|-
|''dooey''||two || ''due''
|-
|''tray''||three || ''tre''
|-
|''quarter''||four || ''quattro''
|-
|''chinker''||five || ''cinque''
|-
|''say''||six || ''sei''
|-
|''say oney'', ''setter''||seven || ''sette''
|-
|''say dooey'', ''otter''||eight || ''otto''
|-
|''say tray'', ''nobber''||nine || ''nove''
|-
|''daiture''||ten ||''dieci''
|-
|''long dedger'', ''lepta''||eleven ||''undici''
|-
|''kenza''||twelve||''dodici''
|-
|''chenter''<ref name=":0"/>
|one hundred
|''cento''
|}
'''Some words or phrases that may derive from Polari (this is an incomplete list):'''<!--e.g., "camp" (adj. & noun) is described as "etymology obscure", not Polari, in the OED-->
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Word
! Definition
|-
|{{lang|pld|acdc}}, {{lang|pld|bibi}}||bisexual{{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":4" />
|-
|{{lang|pld|ajax}}||nearby (shortened form of "adjacent to"){{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":4" />
|-
|{{lang|pld|alamo!}}||they're attractive! (via [[acronym]] "LMO" meaning "Lick Me Out!"){{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
| {{lang|pld|arva}}||to have sex (from Italian ''chiavare'', to screw)<ref name="What is Polari All About">{{cite web|url=http://www.polarimagazine.com/bulletin-board/polari/|title=What Is Polari All About?|website=Polari Magazine|date=13 August 2012 |access-date=30 July 2018}}</ref>
|-
|{{lang|pld|aunt nell}}||listen!{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|aunt nells}}||ears<ref name="Stevens" />{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|aunt nelly fakes}}||earrings{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|barney}}||a fight{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|bat}}, {{lang|pld|batts}}, {{lang|pld|bates}}||shoes{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|''bevvy''|| drink (diminutive of "beverage")<ref name="liverpoolmuseums.org.uk"/>
|-
|{{lang|pld|[[Bitch (insult)#In reference to men|bitch]]}} || effeminate or passive gay man<ref name=":4" />
|-
|{{lang|pld|bijou}}||small/little (from French, jewel){{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
| {{lang|pld|bitaine}}||whore (French ''{{Lang|fr|putain}}'')
|-
|{{lang|pld|blag}}||sexually pick up{{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":4" />
|-
| {{lang|pld|bold}}|| homosexual<ref name="What is Polari All About"/>
|-
|{{lang|pld|bona}}||good{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|bona nochy}}||goodnight (from Italian – ''{{lang|it|buona notte}}''){{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":4" />
|-
|{{lang|pld|[[Butch and femme|butch]]}}||masculine; masculine lesbian{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|buvare}}||a drink; something drinkable (from Italian – ''{{lang|it|bere}}'' or old-fashioned Italian – ''{{lang|it|bevere}}'' or Lingua Franca ''bevire''){{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":4" />
|-
|{{lang|pld|cackle}}||talk/gossip{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|[[Camp (style)|camp]]}}||effeminate (possibly from Italian ''{{lang|it|campare}}'' or ''{{lang|it|campeggiare}}'' "emphasise, make stand out") (possibly from the phrase "camp follower" those itinerants who followed behind the men in uniform/highly decorative dress)
|-
|{{lang|pld|capello}}, {{lang|pld|capella}}, {{lang|pld|capelli}}, {{lang|pld|kapella}}||hat (from Italian – ''{{lang|it|cappello}}''){{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|carsey}}, {{lang|pld|karsey}}, {{lang|pld|khazi}}||house or a toilet{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|cartes}}||penis (from Italian – ''{{lang|it|cazzo}}''){{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|{{lang|pld|cats}}||trousers{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|''charper''||to search or to look (from Italian ''acchiappare'', to catch){{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|''charpering omi''||policeman<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''charver''||sexual intercourse{{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''[[chicken (gay slang)|chicken]]''||young man<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''clevie''||vagina<ref name=auto>{{cite book|last=Grose|first=Francis|year=2012|title=1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue|publisher=tebbo|isbn=978-1-4861-4841-7}}</ref>
|-
|''clobber''||clothes{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|''cod''||bad{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|''corybungus''||backside, posterior<ref name=auto/>
|-
|''cottage''||a public lavatory used for sexual encounters (public lavatories in British parks and elsewhere were often built in the style of a Tudor cottage)[https://c8.alamy.com/comp/BJ4MCR/half-timbered-mock-tudor-public-toilet-block-in-aldeburgh-suffolk-BJ4MCR.jpg]
|-
|''[[cottaging]]''||seeking or obtaining sexual encounters in public lavatories<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''cove''||taxi{{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|''dhobi'' / ''dhobie'' / ''dohbie''||wash (from Hindi, ''dohb''){{sfn|Baker|2003}}
|-
|''Dilly boy''||a male prostitute, from Piccadilly boy<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''Dilly, the''||Piccadilly circus, a place where cruising went on<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''dinari''||money (Latin 'denarii' was the 'd' of the pre decimal penny. This word is cognate with the Spanish word 'dinero' also meaning money)<ref>{{cite book|last=Sutherland|first=C. H. V.|title=English Coinage 600-1900|year=1973|isbn=0-7134-0731-X|page=10}}</ref>
|-
|''dish''||buttocks{{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":6" />
|-
|''dolly''||pretty, nice, pleasant, (from Irish ''dóighiúil''/Scottish Gaelic ''dòigheil'', handsome, pronounced 'doil')
|-
|''dona''||woman (perhaps from Italian ''donna'' or Lingua Franca ''dona''){{sfn|Baker|2003}}{{rp|26}}
|-
|''ecaf''||face (backslang){{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":7" />
|-
|''eek/eke''<ref name=":0"/>||face (abbreviation of ecaf){{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":7" />
|-
| ''ends''||hair<ref name="liverpoolmuseums.org.uk"/>
|-
|''esong'', ''sedon''||nose (backslang){{sfn|Baker|2003}}<ref name=":5" />
|-
|''fambles''||hands<ref name=auto/>
|-
|''fantabulosa''||fabulous/wonderful<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''farting crackers''||trousers<ref name=auto/>
|-
|''feele'' / ''feely'' / ''filly''||child/young (from the Italian ''figlio,'' for son)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''feele omi'' / ''feely omi''|| young man<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''flowery''||lodgings, accommodations<ref name=auto/>
|-
|''fogus''||tobacco<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''fortuni''||gorgeous, beautiful<ref name=auto/>
|-
|''[[Fruit (slang)#As gay slang|fruit]]''||gay man<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''funt''||pound £ (Yiddish)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''fungus''||old man/beard<ref name=auto/>
|-
|''gelt''||money (Yiddish)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''bag''||money<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''hoofer''||dancer<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''HP'' (''homy palone'')||gay man, especially an effeminate one<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''irish''||wig (from Cockney rhyming slang, "Irish jig")<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''jarry''||food, also ''mangarie'' (from Italian ''mangiare'' or Lingua Franca ''mangiaria'')<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''jubes''||breasts<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''kaffies''||trousers<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''lacoddy, lucoddy''||body
|-
|''lallies'' / ''lylies''||legs, sometimes also knees (as in "get down on yer lallies")<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''lallie tappers''||feet<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''latty'' / ''lattie''||room, house or flat<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''lau'' ||lay or place upon<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polarimagazine.com/editorial/lau-your-luppers-on-the-strillers-bona/|title=A Polari Christmas|website=Polari Magazine|date=12 December 2009|access-date=30 July 2018}}</ref>
|-
|''lavs''||words<ref name="The Polari Bible">{{cite web|url=http://www.josephrichardson.tv/polari-bible.html/|title=The Polari Bible|website=.josephrichardson.tv|access-date=30 July 2018|archive-date=2 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602063315/http://www.josephrichardson.tv/polari-bible.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> (Irish: ''labhairt'' to speak)
|-
|''lills''||hands<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''lilly''||police (Lilly Law)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''lyles''||legs (prob. from "Lisle stockings")<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''luppers''||fingers (from Yiddish ''lapa'' – paw)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''mangarie''||food, also ''jarry'' (from Italian ''mangiare'' or Lingua Franca ''mangiaria'')<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''manky''||worthless, dirty (from Italian ''mancare'' – "to be lacking")<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/manky|title=Manky|website=Collins English Dictionary|access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref>
|-
|''martinis''||hands<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''measures''||money<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''medzered''||divided<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polarimagazine.com/opinion/let-there-be-sparkle/|title=Let There Be Sparkle|website=Polari Magazine|date=10 December 2012|access-date=30 July 2018}}</ref>
|-
|''meese''||plain, ugly (from [[Yiddish]] ''mieskeit'', in turn from Hebrew מָאוּס repulsive, loathsome, despicable, abominable)
|-
|''meshigener''||nutty, crazy, mental (from [[Yiddish]] '[[wikt:meshugge|meshugge]]', in turn from Hebrew מְשֻׁגָּע crazy)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''meshigener carsey''||church<ref name="The Polari Bible"/>
|-
|''metzas''||money (from Italian ''mezzi'', "means, wherewithal")<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''mince''||walk affectedly<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''mollying''||involved in the act of sex<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/dec/10/life1.lifemagazine3|title=The Way We Live Now: Mind Your Language|first=Beverley|last=D'Silva|date=10 December 2000|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=5 July 2018}}</ref>
|-
|''mogue''||deceive<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''munge''||darkness<ref name="The Polari Bible"/>
|-
|''[[#Naff|naff]]''||awful, dull, hetero<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''nana / nanna''||awful<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''nanti''||not, no, none<ref name=":4" /> (from Italian, ''niente'')
|-
|''national handbag''||dole, welfare, government financial assistance<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''nishta''||nothing<ref name="liverpoolmuseums.org.uk"/> from Yiddish nishto נישטא meaning nothing
|-
|''ogle''||look admiringly<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''ogles''||eyes<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''oglefakes''||glasses<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''omi''||man<ref name=":4" /> (from Romance)
|-
|''onk''||nose<ref name=":4" /> (from "conk")
|-
|''orbs''||eyes<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''orderly daughters''||police<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''oven''||mouth (nanti pots in the oven = no teeth in the mouth)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''palare'' / ''polari pipe''||telephone ("talk pipe")<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''palliass''||back<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''park,'' ''parker''||give<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''plate''||feet<ref name=":4" /> (Cockney rhyming slang "plates of meat"); to fellate
|-
|''palone''||woman<ref name=":4" /> (Italian ''paglione'' – "straw mattress"; cf. old Cant ''hay-bag'' – "woman"); also spelled "polony" in [[Graham Greene]]'s 1938 novel ''[[Brighton Rock (novel)|Brighton Rock]]''
|-
|''palone-omi''||lesbian<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''pots''||teeth<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''quongs''||testicles<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''reef''||touch<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''remould''||sex change<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''rozzer''||policeman<ref name=guardian/>
|-
|''riah'' / ''riha''||hair (backslang)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''riah zhoosher''||hairdresser<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''[[Trade (gay slang)#Rough trade|rough trade]]''||a working class or blue collar sex partner or potential sex partner; a tough, thuggish or potentially violent sex partner<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''scarper''||to run off<ref name=":4" /> (from Italian ''scappare'', to escape or run away or from rhyming slang "scapa flow", to go)
|-
|''scharda''||shame<ref name=":4" /> (from German ''schade'', "a shame" or "a pity")
|-
|''schlumph''||drink<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''schmutter''||apparel<ref name="Polari Bible">{{cite web|url=http://www.josephrichardson.tv/polari-bible.html|title=Polari Bible|website=josephrichardson.tv/home.html|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref> from Yiddish shmatte שמאטע meaning rag
|-
|''schooner''||bottle<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''scotch''||leg<ref name=":4" /> (scotch egg=leg)
|-
|''screech''||mouth, speak<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''screeve''||write<ref name="Polari Bible"/> (either from Irish ''scríobh''/Scottish Gaelic ''sgrìobh'', Scots ''scrieve'' to write or italian 'scrivere' meaning to write)
|-
|''sharpy''||policeman<ref name=":4" /> (from&nbsp;– charpering omi)
|-
|''sharpy polone''||policewoman<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''shush''||steal (from client)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''shush bag''||hold-all<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''shyker'' / ''shyckle''||wig<ref name=":4" /> (mutation of the Yiddish ''[[sheitel]]'')
|-
|''slap''||makeup<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''so''||homosexual<ref name=":4" /> (e.g. "Is he 'so'?")<!-- from nineteenth century slang? -->
|-
|''stimps''||legs<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''stimpcovers''||stockings, hosiery<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''strides''||trousers<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''strillers''||piano<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''switch''||wig<ref name=":4" />
|-
| ''TBH'' (''to be had'')||prospective sexual conquest<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''thews''||thighs<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''tober''||road (a [[Shelta]] word, Irish ''bóthar''); temporary site for a circus, carnival{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
|-
|''[[Tod Sloan (jockey)#Rhyming slang|todd (Sloan)]]'' or ''tod''||from Cockney rhyming slang "alone"{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
|-
|''tootsie trade''||sex between two passive or feminine homosexuals<ref name=":4" /> (as in: 'I don't do tootsie trade')
|-
|''[[Trade (Homosexual)|trade]]''||sex, sex-partner, potential sex-partner<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''[[Troll (gay)|troll]]''||to walk about (esp. looking for trade)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''vada'' / ''varder''||to see (from Italian dialect ''vardare'' = ''guardare'' – look at)<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''vera'' (''lynn'')||gin<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''vogue''||cigarette<ref name=":4" /> (from Lingua Franca ''fogus'' – "fire, smoke")
|-
|''vogueress''||female smoker{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
|-
|''wallop''||dance<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/polari.htm|title=World Wide Words: How Bona to Vada Your Eek!|website=World Wide Words|access-date=5 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907173251/http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/polari.htm|archive-date=7 September 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
|''willets''||breasts<ref name=":4" />
|-
| ''yeute''||<nowiki>no, none</nowiki>
|-
|''yews''||(from French "yeux") eyes<ref name=":4" />
|-
|''zhoosh''||style, improve, clothes<ref name=":4" />(cf. Romani ''zhouzho'' – "clean, neat")
|-
|''zhooshy''||showy<ref name=":4" />
|}

===Usage examples===
''Omies and palones of the [[jury]], vada well at the eek of the poor ome who stands before you, his lallies trembling.'' – taken from "Bona Law", one of the [[Julian and Sandy]] sketches from ''[[Round The Horne]]'', written by [[Barry Took]] and [[Marty Feldman]]

:Translation: "Men and women of the jury, look well at the face of the poor man who stands before you, his legs trembling."

''So bona to vada...oh you! Your lovely eek and your lovely riah.'' – taken from "Piccadilly Palare", a song by [[Morrissey]]

:Translation: "So good to see...oh you! Your lovely face and your lovely hair."

''As feely ommes...we would zhoosh our riah, powder our eeks, climb into our bona new drag, don our batts and troll off to some bona bijou bar. In the bar we would stand around with our sisters, vada the bona cartes on the butch omme ajax who, if we fluttered our ogle riahs at him sweetly, might just troll over to offer a light for the unlit vogue clenched between our teeth.'' – taken from ''Parallel Lives'', the memoirs of renowned gay journalist [[Peter Burton (writer)|Peter Burton]]

:Translation: "As young men...we would style our hair, powder our faces, climb into our great new clothes, don our shoes and wander/walk off to some great little bar. In the bar we would stand around with our gay companions, look at the great genitals on the butch man nearby who, if we fluttered our eyelashes at him sweetly, might just wander/walk over to offer a light for the unlit [[cigarette]] clenched between our teeth."

In the ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'' episode "The Old Order Changes", Captain Peacock asks Mr Humphries to get "some strides for the omi with the naff riah" (i.e., trousers for the fellow with the unstylish hair).<ref>{{cite episode|title=The Old Order Changes|series=Are You Being Served?|date=18 March 1977}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|LGBTQ|United Kingdom|Language}}
* [[African-American Vernacular English]] (sometimes called Ebonics)
* [[Bahasa Binan]]
* [[Boontling]]
* [[Caló (Chicano)]]
* [[Carny]], North American fairground cant
* [[Gayle language]]
* [[Gay slang]]
* [[Grypsera]]
* [[IsiNgqumo]]
* [[Lavender linguistics]]
* [[Lunfardo]] and [[Vesre]]
* [[Mediterranean Lingua Franca]]
* [[Pajubá]]
* [[Julian and Sandy]]
* [[Rotwelsch]]
* [[Shelta]]
* [[Swardspeak]], argot used by LGBT people in the Philippines
* [[Verlan]]
* [[Lubunca]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Baker |first=Paul |year=2002 |title=Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang |location=London |publisher=Continuum |isbn=0-8264-5961-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/fantabulosadicti0000bake}}
* {{cite book |last=Baker |first=Paul |title=Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men |year=2003 |publisher=Routledge |location=London|isbn=978-1-134-50635-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXmBAgAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Paul |title=Fabulosa!: The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language |date=2019 |publisher=Reaktion Books |location=London |isbn=978-1-78914-168-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxWbDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last1=Elmes |first1=Simon |last2=Rosen |first2=Michael |author2-link=Michael Rosen |year=2002 |title=Word of Mouth |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-866263-7 }}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary category|category=English terms derived from Polari}}
* [http://www.polaribible.org/ The Polari Bible compiled by The Manchester Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412030259/http://www.polaribible.org/ |date=12 April 2016 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202222545/http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/exhibitions/polarimission/ Polari Mission exhibit] (archived) at the [[University of Manchester]]'s [[John Rylands Library]]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,3604,1391811,00.html Colin Richardson, ''The Guardian'', 17 January 2005, "What brings you trolling back, then?"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121012161159/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/exhibitions/gaylife/polari.asp Liverpool Museums: The secret language of polari] (archived)
* [http://www.bigcar.co.uk/polari/ Paul Clevett's Polari Translator]
* ''Putting it on the Dish'', a 2015 short film featuring Polari extensively
* [https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-polari-the-curious-after-life-of-the-dead-language-for-gay-men-72599 A brief history of Polari: the curious after-life of the dead language for gay men], 8 February 2017.
* [https://kittensyzygy.github.io/polari-dictionary/home.html Polari Dictionary] based on Paul Baker's glossary and dictionary

{{Gender variance topics}}
{{LGBT topics in the United Kingdom}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:English language in England]]
[[Category:English-based argots]]
[[Category:English language in London]]
[[Category:British slang]]
[[Category:LGBTQ culture in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Gay working-class culture]]
[[Category:LGBTQ argots]]
[[Category:LGBTQ slang]]