Polari () is a form of slang or cant historically used primarily in the United Kingdom among the gay subculture, as well as some actors, circus and fairground performers, professional wrestlers, merchant navy sailors, criminals, and prostitutes.
There is some debate about its origins, but it can be traced to at least the 19th century and possibly as early as the 16th century. Polari has a long-standing connection with Punch and Judy street puppeteers, who traditionally used it to converse.
Terminology
Alternative spellings include Parlare, Parlary, Palare, Palarie and Palari. The term comes .
Description
thumb|right|alt=A circular rainbow-coloured plaque with text about Polari|[[Leeds Pride#Rainbow Plaques|Rainbow Plaque on Leeds City Varieties theatre]]
Polari is a mixture of Romance (Italian or Mediterranean Lingua Franca), Romani, rhyming slang, sailors' slang and thieves' cant, which later expanded to contain words from Yiddish and 1960s drug subculture slang. It was constantly evolving, with a small core lexicon of about 20 words, including: ' (good), ' (nearby), ' (face), ' (bad, in the sense of tacky or vile), ' (bad, in the sense of drab or dull, though borrowed into mainstream British English with a meaning more like that of '), ' (room, house, flat), ' (not, no), ' (man), ' (woman), ' (hair), ' or ' (smarten up, stylise), ' ('to be had', sexually accessible), ' (sex) and ' (see).
There were once two distinct forms of Polari in London: an East End version which stressed Cockney rhyming slang and a West End version which stressed theatrical and classical influences. There was some interchange between the two.
When used by homosexual men, Polari also involves inverting gendered personal pronouns and names, typically switching them from male forms to female forms. For example, he may become she (known as she-ing), and the name Paul may become Pauline.
Usage
From the 19th century on, Polari was used in London fish markets, theatres, fairgrounds, and circuses, hence the many borrowings from Romani. As many homosexual men worked in theatrical entertainment, it was also used among the gay subculture to disguise homosexuals from hostile outsiders and undercover policemen. It was also used extensively in the British Merchant Navy, where many gay men worked as waiters, stewards, and entertainers.
According to Oxford English Dictionary associate editor Peter Gilliver, little written evidence of Polari exists before the 1890s. The dictionary's entry for rozzer (policeman) includes a quote from P. H. Emerson's 1893 book Signor Lippo – Burnt Cork Artiste: "If the rozzers was to see him in bona clobber they'd take him for a gun." ("If the police were to see him finely dressed, they would know that he is a thief.")
The almost identical Parlyaree has been spoken in fairgrounds since at least the 17th century and is still used by show travellers in England and Scotland. As theatrical booths, circus acts, and menageries were once common parts of European fairs, it is likely that the roots of Polari/Parlyaree lie in the period before both theatre and circus became independent of fairgrounds. The Parlyaree spoken on fairgrounds tends to borrow much more from Romani, as well as other languages and cants spoken by travelling people, such as thieves' cant and back slang.
Henry Mayhew gave an account of Polari as part of an interview with a Punch and Judy showman in the 1850s. The discussion he recorded references Punch's arrival in England, crediting these early shows to an Italian performer called Porcini (John Payne Collier's account calls him Porchini, a literal rendering of the Italian pronunciation). Mayhew provides the following: