“It’s parky,” J. said while our dogs sniffed each other in the middle of the empty road.
I must’ve looked as blank as I was.
“You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?” he asked.
I hadn’t even thought to say so. That’s how blank I was.
“Haven’t a clue.”
“Parky in the mold. Cold. “
Not J.’s dog. I’m cheating. Photo by Sellys, on Wikimedia.
I managed to say, “Oh.” Then I managed to say “I need a translator.” I didn’t manage to ask what parky was, or what it had to do with a mold. I understand just enough about rhyming slang to know that the phrases aren’t nonsense sounds—they mean something—so it would’ve made sense to ask.
If you haven’t heard of rhyming slang, here’s the five-second summary: It started in the mid-nineteenth century, in east London. One theory claims it was used by thieves as a more or less secret language and another says it started as a game. A third says it was a way of reinforcing neighborhood solidarity. Whatever the origin, it works like this: You take a word and find a phrase that rhymes with it: stairs with apples and pears. Then you drop the word that actually rhymes and say, “I’m going up the apples.” And you leave your clueless friend standing in the middle of the road with her jaw hanging open while the dogs sniff each other.
J. and I said goodbye and he promised to clue me in to a few phrases so I can respond to them and make people think, Ooh, she knows what it’s about.
Although clearly I don’t.
Notes from the U.K. 
I’m slightly sceptical about “parky” being Cockney rhyming slang – thought it was a northern, maybe Yorkshire, expression – and I don’t think they’re well know for adopting t’Cockney slang.
Google is, for once, vague on the subject. “parky in the mold” shows zero results – hey, you’ll be a googlebomb!
I’ve also read various, dubious, theories … from it being a derivative of ‘perky’ to a reference to Parkinson’s and Parka coats.
Just thought I’d add to the confusion…
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I’ve never seen a little confusion I didn’t want to murk up a bit myself. Google might be kinder if you used “mould” instead of “mold,” but maybe it’s holding out for something even more obscure.
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Nope, nothing for that either. I assumed ‘mold’ to be some sort of landscape feature for some reason. A little hill. No idea why because it isn’t.
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And to add a bit more… you could always just say “It’s a bit David out there”
David Starkey > parky
http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/slang/david_starkey
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Holy buckets. Is there any way to make this more complicated?
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It’s not easy to come up with good rhymes for David…
My favourite, I think, is “kettle” which means “watch” (in the chronometric sense of the word). Kettle and hob -> fob -> fob watch.
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Okay, so what’s the rhyming slang for orange?
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Me neither. I would be as blank as you. If not even more.
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Let us know how you get from A to Z, or Parky to Cold, as is the case here.
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After reading that it may not rhyming slang, I wouldn’t dare try anyway. You just have to take a wild running jump and go from wherever you land.
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When we moved to Virginia, my husband worked for an Englishman. At dinner one evening, he regaled us with Cockney rhyme which was my introduction to it. His explanation was your version three – a form of solidarity. Fascinating, isn’t it?
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Talk about a language that excludes outsiders….
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Just like Boston, Ellen!
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Ha! Yeah, the first time my Hubby’s work mates invited him out for a Ruby at the local pub, he was most perplexed. Ruby Murray = Curry! :-) (mmm… curry….)
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Wouldn’t you have loved to be around when the first group of people thought of rhyming slang? I’ll bet they laughed their asses off.
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I think you’ll find they laughed their bottles off.
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I stand corrected.
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And you lost me at mold ( as opposed to mould of course;)
Unfortunately you’ve been lied to. I’m a bit curious about language and know this expression but the origin didn’t work for me do I looked it up. Don’t hate me. It’s not rhyming slang. Apparently that would be ‘taters’ from ‘taters in the mould.’ However ‘parky’ is from the birth of England. Thanks for the inspiration. I’m now looking at this further. Promise to report back.
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So I did some further research. This site http://neilpinder.blogspot.nl/2013/03/parky-its-origin-and-meaning.html?m=1 covered all the bases.
If it is rhyming slang then I think
‘Parkinson’s a bit bold’ works best for me to rhyme with cold!
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I just followed the link and it looks like the origin of the phrase is a definitive “I dunno.” Interesting, though. I’ll have to ask the guy who used the phrase and see what he says.
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Bet he’s not too sure. I just couldn’t figure it out.
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This makes as much sense as…maths.
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I’m so bad at math that rhyming slang strikes me as simpler.
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J. emailed me to say “I knew ‘parky’ meant cold but not where it came from. Apparently not Cockney at all, but saying the weather is “taters” is to do with mouldy potatoes and is Cockney rhyming slang. No one seems to know where ‘parky’ came from, but general opinion says it is a north of England expression!” To which I could only reply, “Whaaat?” She reminded me that “mould” (and also “mold”) rhymes with “cold” (and would also rhyme with “could” if English made the least bit of sense, but I’m asking too much there), hence, with the skip-hopping logic of rhyming slang, it leads to “potatoes,” and from there to “taters.”
Which is all perfectly obvious, right?
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Rhyming slang is still being created and used today. A friend told me it had all gone “Pete Tong” which is rhyming slang for wrong and (I am old so I didn’t know) Pete Tong is a Radio 1 DJ who plays noises I would never call music. Now I need to lie down in a dark room and discover just when I turned in to my Mother!
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Yeah, funny how that happens. I wonder if there’s rhyming slang for that.
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Ah yes, the old rhyming slang. It’s great isn’t it? This is what convinces me that there can be very few truly bi-lingual people in the world, no matter how they may protest otherwise.
Do you know what “bins” are by any chance?
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I haven’t a clue, and with rhyming slang no amount of guesswork or logic will help. Enlighten me.
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Tsk, its easy.
Bins=dustbins.
Dustbins=dustbin lids.
Dustbin lids = kids.
What on earth could be difficult about that?
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Um. Give me a minute while I whittle my list of sixty things down to one or two.
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binoculars
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Yes binoculars. Often the term Bins is used as a nickname in the British armed forces for someone who wears spectacles, I had a good friend who was known as Bins Burleigh
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I hadn’t heard that one, but in case I do I can now do my best to look like I know what I’m hearing. Thanks for sending me out into the world ready for–well, not anything but at least one more thing.
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