Thursday 2 August 2012

Polari




So bona to vada...oh you! 
Your lovely eek and your lovely riah. 

Morrissey. 'Piccadilly Palare', 1990



Thanks to homosexual law reform in 1967*, I've never needed to communicate in Polari. Like many cryptolects, dialects and minority languages, Polari has been the victim of cultural integration. 

Of course, I shouldn't really see this as a shame. A language that gained widespread currency in response to fear and intolerance should, by rights, have no place in contemporary society. Nevertheless, I find the death of a language, however irrelevant it has become, very sad. In my mind, it's as great a loss to the diversity of our world as the extinction of a plant or animal.

Polari evolved in London's fishmarkets, theatres, fairgrounds and circuses - places where the city's homosexuals mingled with other outcasts and underclasses. Like much British street slang, many words are of Romani origin. There is also clearly a strong Italian influence, which I imagine came through the theatrical route.

Omi (man) comes from the Italian uomo

Polari was on its dish (arse) by the late 60s, and really only kept alive by omi-polone comedians like Kenneth Horne and Kenneth Williams. But (no doubt due to the fabulousness of us homos), a surprising number of words have snuck into everyday (British) English. Here a just a few you'll probably know...  

Barney. Camp. Carsey. Clobber. Drag. Mince. Naff. Ogle. Zhoosh.

Thankfully, homos are an inventive bunch, and there's still life in Polari yet. I'll leave you with this short but fantabulosa subtitled scene from the film Velvet Goldmine... 



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*Only England & Wales. The poor old poofs north of the border had to wait until 1980 to become 'legal'. They're making up for it now though, with Scotland set to become the first country in the UK to legalise gay marriage.

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