374: Polari, Britain's Lost Gay Language (with Paul Baker)
Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.
English - August 08, 2019 08:58 - 1 hour - 65.3 MB - ★★★★★ - 65 ratingsSocial Sciences Science Education Language Learning language words linguistics Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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When homosexuality was illegal, a secret language brought people together.
In 1960s England, Polari was a creative blend of Italian, Romani, rhyming slang, and backslang, used among the LGBT community. It could be used to communicate, or to identify someone as a member of the group. Now Polari has been lost, even as some of its words have crossed over into mainstream English.
We're talking to Professor Paul Baker about this lost language on this episode of Talk the Talk.