Rhyming slang is a form of slang in which a word is replaced by a phrase that rhymes with it, and is often humorous. Rhyming slang is closely associated with the cockney working-class population of London, though some phrases are more widely heard. It may have developed in the late 18th century as a private language used by thieves or as part of the patter (= talk) of street traders.
Examples of rhyming slang which are familiar to most British people are apples and pears (stairs), trouble and strife (wife), plates of meat (feet) and dicky dirt (shirt). Sometimes the rhyming part of the phrase has been dropped. Somebody may say, for instance, that they are going to take a butcher’s (have a look at something). The original expression was take a butcher’s hook which rhymed with look . Similarly, a person may say use your loaf (think about something). Originally the rhyming phrase was use your loaf of bread , which rhymed with head .
Rhyming slang tends to be thought of as old-fashioned by younger people and phrases like take a butcher’s and use your loaf are now less often heard. But some words that originated in rhyming slang have become part of the regular language. For instance, raspberry in the sense of a disapproving sound made with the tongue and lips, comes from raspberry tart , the rhyming slang for ‘fart’.