Would you "Adam and Eve" it but finally the "Rabbit" they do on the "Tidy and neat" in the East End is being given a literary status. A number of cash machines, according to a Timesonlione article(Thanks to Katherine Elizabeth for picking this up in the States), are dishing out "Moolah" with on-screen instructions in Cockney. “Readin’ your bladder of lard”, read the message on the screen. It asked for his “Huckleberry Finn”. Then more bewildering questions: did he want to see his balance on the Charlie Sheen? Did he wish to change his Huckleberry Finn or did he simply require sausage and mash, with or without a receipt?
Apparently 'Bank Machine', which runs 2,500 ATMs across the country, are thinking of extending this to cover Geordies, Brummies, Scouse and Scots. One comment was made that, The Yorkshire version is similar, but doesn't have an option to withdraw cash. I think they should do this on our local new channels too. So when Hugh Johns hands us over to our regional news Riz Latif comes on saying "Alright me ol China's, did ya "Steak and Kidney pies" get a Butchers hook" at this today?
Apart from feeling the freedom of having finished my MA, I have been moved to blog about this because I use to use Cockney rhyming slang to teach English. I would get Japanese students to learn some Cockney slang phrases and then give them a piece of "written English" to translate into Cockney. They would then attempt to read it out authentically and we would even act out little scenes of using cockney speak... Just think that if ever those students come across those machines today, those lessons some 10 years ago would have been worth it!
