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I’ve just searched lpsg and find next to nothing on Polari.
Polari is a code (form) of English which originated in English fairgrounds and the stage, and which in the 1950s was adopted by many in the London gay community as a way of communicating without outsiders understanding. It is English-based but with vocabulary from a variety of languages originally associated with the people working at fairgrounds: Romani, Shelta, Italian and London Cockney dialect.
This evening I’ve seen a play “Scream Queer Murder” which uses a lot of Polari vocabulary, including sections written completely in Polari. I don’t know how much or little most of the audience understood.
I’m a lot younger than the 1950s and don‘t know Polari speakers, if indeed there are any left. However Romani, London Cockney and perhaps even Shelta are codes which are familiar to me, to some extent at least, and I suppose I can manage a little Italian. I was taken aback to realise I understood just about everything. The writer Martin Lewton has drawn on an intriguing language heritage.
I‘m curious to know if posters on lpsg have encountered Polari. What did you make of it?
Polari is a code (form) of English which originated in English fairgrounds and the stage, and which in the 1950s was adopted by many in the London gay community as a way of communicating without outsiders understanding. It is English-based but with vocabulary from a variety of languages originally associated with the people working at fairgrounds: Romani, Shelta, Italian and London Cockney dialect.
This evening I’ve seen a play “Scream Queer Murder” which uses a lot of Polari vocabulary, including sections written completely in Polari. I don’t know how much or little most of the audience understood.
I’m a lot younger than the 1950s and don‘t know Polari speakers, if indeed there are any left. However Romani, London Cockney and perhaps even Shelta are codes which are familiar to me, to some extent at least, and I suppose I can manage a little Italian. I was taken aback to realise I understood just about everything. The writer Martin Lewton has drawn on an intriguing language heritage.
I‘m curious to know if posters on lpsg have encountered Polari. What did you make of it?