
Polari, the Lost Gay English Dialect - peteforde
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/07/28/polari_the_gay_dialect_can_be_heard_in_this_great_short_film_putting_on.html
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adrianhoward
More on Polari
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari)

I grew up listening to recordings of "Round the Horne" in the UK, which
included two characters Julian & Sandy that chatted a little in Polari during
their sketches. A bunch of Polari words and phrases have migrated into general
UK slang — so it's not really a case of dying out… more migrating and changing
— as languages & dialects often do.

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graham-miln
You can listen to Round the Horne and The Navy Lark today on BBC iPlayer:

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c7q4l/episodes/player](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c7q4l/episodes/player)

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00bfvkd/episodes/player](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00bfvkd/episodes/player)

Liverpool's Maritime Museum has an insightful exhibit on gay life at sea; the
exhibit includes a section on the polari:

[http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/visit/floor-
plan...](http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/visit/floor-plan/life-at-
sea/gaylife/index.aspx)

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Angostura
I'm always astonished as to hows fresh Round the Horne sounds even today, when
many of the comedy programmes of that era sound distinctly dated. Still funny,
worth a listen.

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late2part
Morrissey sings of this:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_Palare](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_Palare)

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mattkevan
Ian McDonald's Everness series has main characters speaking in Polari, and
where I first encountered it as a thing. And the books, even though they're
aimed at young adults are really good.

What surprised me is how many words I use regualrly had their origins in
Polari. I don't know whether it's because they've made their way into
mainstream language, or just a regional thing though.

~~~
danharaj
There is a similar phenomenon in American English where a huge, huge number of
words in the dominant dialects come directly from AAVE (Afro-American
Vernacular English). I would not be surprised if many of those words have
spread all throughout the anglophonic world.

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SixSigma
I love the fact that "trolling" has made the jump to regular usage, although
the UK media has ruined the meaning [1] once more in due course.

[1]
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29678989](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29678989)

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tatterdemalion
Trolling in Polari has a different origin from its usage in reference to the
internet, where the term has its origin in alt.folklore.urban. The Polari term
is still used in the gay scene (it refers to loitering around a known
cottaging location hoping to meet someone).

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gnoway
I've always assumed both were derivatives of trawling, a fishing term.

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jacobolus
Trawling and trolling are different fishing techniques. Trawling involves
hanging a big net off the back of a boat to scoop up all the fish along a
large swath of water, whereas trolling involves hanging one or more baited
lines off the back of a boat, with the boat’s slow movement enticing fish to
bite.

See:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trawling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trawling)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_(fishing)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_\(fishing\))

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dang
Url changed from [http://kottke.org/15/08/the-lost-language-of-gay-english-
men](http://kottke.org/15/08/the-lost-language-of-gay-english-men), which
points to this.

~~~
peteforde
Thanks!

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stefantalpalaru
The circuses were dominated by Italian families, and probably some of the
fairgrounds also, but what's the connection between circuses / fairgrounds and
theaters?

