Polari: a language unlike others you’ll have heard of. This language, composed of subculture dialects, was born in the 18th and 19th century, and was used by individuals across the LGBT + spectrum to communicate while avoiding persecution and mainstream understanding. In this way, it became a crucial element of queer subculture between the 1930s and 70s, when it was most widely used. A few of its words can be traced back to slang in Elizabethan England associated with travellers, and with the 18th century came the addition of words from ‘molly house culture’ – with ‘molly house’ denoting a meeting place for gay men to have sex. A century later…
Polari began to incorporate Parlyaree, an Italian-derived language used by show people and travellers. Once it found its way into Britain through associations with travellers, buskers, beggars and prostitutes, Polari gradually became more popular with gay men, drag queens and lesbian women, especially during the first half of the 20th century. Over time, Cockney rhyming slang, French, and Yiddish all added to Polari, making the language into a fascinating amalgamation of vocabulary that sounds completely nonsensical to an untrained ear! When added into conversation, Polari would usually be used for greeting, to gossip about mutual friends, comment on appearances or identify others within the gay community through codified expressions. Here’s an example phrase (spot any features from languages or dialects you might already know!):
‘And no flies! It’s so bona to vada you! Sharda that we don’t palare more often!’ This translates as: ‘Honestly! It’s so good to see you. What a shame that we don’t talk more often!’
An intriguing linguistic feature of Polari is the tendency to switch gendered pronouns, as well as convert men’s names into female ones. Through its many identity-concealing precautions, the language acted as a defence mechanism against arrest, scrutiny and violence, often targeted at those whose appearance conformed to the stereotype of a gay man. After Polari’s peak in popularity after World War II and into the early 1950s, Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953 is thought to have sparked a ‘clean-up’ campaign of homosexuality in London, and so the language became subdued. This crackdown resulted in arrests, violence, and the banning of drag shows. Not even Alan Turing, who was instrumental in cracking the Enigma machine-codes, was safe from prosecution. In 1952, turning to the police after he was robbed, he found himself under arrest and was subject to brutal institutional violence, before committing suicide at age 41.
Polari became as widespread as it did thanks to the immensely popular 1960s BBC radio show Round The Horne. Broadcast on Sundays and considered a family event, the show was listened to by an audience of 9 million people. It featured Julian and Sandy, two gay men who used Polari liberally throughout their speech. (Since then, there has even been a Polari short film made with these two starring!) Though homosexuality was outlawed at the time the show began, episodes often openly poked fun at the criminality of gay relationships. In 1967, 10 years after being recommended by the Wolfenden Report, homosexuality was finally decriminalised by law. During this same year, Round The Horne peaked in popularity, winning an award for the best radio comedy programme.
It’s important to note that some of Polari’s vocabulary included racist and sexist terms, and that cultural changes contributed to the language dying out during the 1970s, as American gay culture hit the English LGBT scene. This shifted focus away from language and towards style when it came to hinting you were a member of the LGBT community, such as using coloured handkerchiefs to indicate sexuality. In 2010, the World Oral Literature Project at the University of Cambridge included Polari on a list of around three and a half thousand endangered languages, and it has since further decreased in popularity. While its status as a language is still somewhat debatable, it must be said that its contribution to queer culture in the 20th century was extremely significant. Though you may not realise, elements of its vocabulary still form part of English dialects and language today. ‘To scarper’, ‘naff’, describing something as no good – interestingly, this was used to refer to heterosexuals in Polari! ‘Bevvy’, a drink, and ‘butch’, someone with stereotypically masculine characteristics, all originate from Polari. If you’re interested in learning more, I’d suggest turning to podcasts to gain some vocabulary and find out about its practical use, back in the 20th Century – such as BBC Radio 4’s ‘Hidden gay lives’.
Arrivederci, and happy pride!
