Monday, July 4, 2011

Cockney Rhyming Slang - Half inch

Even in rhyming slang most Brits haven't quite gone metric. 1.27cm just doesn't mean anything, no one has ever 1.27centimetred a mars bar from the corner shop, a few have probably half inched one.

Yes, "half inch" is rhyming slang for pinch and generally meaning to steal.

I don't know why half inch became the unit of inch to pinch with, as opposed to a quarter, an eighth or even a whole inch, only half inching counts!

No comments:

Post a Comment