Talk:Cockney Alphabet

Latest comment: 7 years ago by AnonMoos in topic Problem

K

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I don't know whether to edit the page to include this, as it's probably racist and rude. But there is a long tradition that

K for bastards (kaffir bastards)

has been used as an alternative. -- 18:32, 20 January 2010 62.3.121.230 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.3.121.230 (talkcontribs)

I don't get "K for undressing"; what is the pun? Equinox 21:03, 28 May 2017 (UTC)Reply

Z

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I am puzzled by the current phrase for the letter z, which is uniformly pronounced 'zed' in the UK. The article gives Z for breezes (zephyr breezes). Can anyone shed any light on this. Martin Hogbin (talk) 17:44, 16 May 2010 (UTC)Reply

"Zephyr" is always pronounced with a "short e" vowel, as far as I'm aware, so zed-fer sounds a little like zeffer. Zee-fer wouldn't sound like anything. AnonMoos (talk) 21:58, 3 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
Gecha. Martin Hogbin (talk) 22:38, 3 June 2010 (UTC)Reply
The recording I have of Clapham and Dwyer has them saying it as "zedfer breezes" Alf Boggis (talk) 17:49, 19 September 2010 (UTC)Reply

B and P

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My grandmother, who was born at the end of the 19th century, was full of these sort of things. I remember “B for eaters” (Beefeaters) and “P for comfort” (very similar to existing examples). PeterColdridge (talk) 12:00, 19 October 2015 (UTC)Reply

Problem

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The list is supposed to be a particular single version, but many people have added alternatives. Those alternatives don't appear in the named version so that is wrong. Equinox 21:05, 28 May 2017 (UTC)Reply

It's kind of an oral folklore phenomenon, not limited to one 1930s recording... AnonMoos (talk) 22:56, 30 May 2017 (UTC)Reply
Article is still wrong then. The alternative is to remove the mention of the 1930s thing and change the header to cover "all versions". Equinox 00:10, 2 June 2017 (UTC)Reply
I don't really see what the problem is. The Clapham and Dwyer recording is one relatively early attestation (but almost certainly not the origin) and there are many other variants floating around. Where is the contradiction in that? AnonMoos (talk) 21:59, 2 June 2017 (UTC)Reply