Rhyming slang all cases, omitting, from the end of the phrase, the secondary rhyming word (which is thereafter implied), making the origin and meaning of the phrase elusive to listeners not in the know. The form that is followed is made clear with the following example. The rhyming phrase "apples and pears" evolved to mean "stairs". Following the pattern of omission, "and pears" is dropped, thus the spoken phrase "I'm going up the apples" means "I'm going up the stairs". The following are further common examples of these phrases: Thus a construction of the following type could conceivably arise: "It nearly knocked
Rhyming slang For example, the term "barney" has been used to mean an altercation or fight since the late 19th century, although without a clear derivation. In the 2001 feature film "Ocean's Eleven", the explanation for the term is that it derives from Barney Rubble, the name of a cartoon character from the "Flintstones" television program many decades later in origin, and so an obviously incorrect explanation. Rhyming slang is used mainly in London in England but can to some degree be understood across the country. Some constructions, however, rely on particular regional accents for the rhymes to work. For instance, the