Polari - English gay slang7.




Researching Polari
A sunny morning in September finds me sitting in the below stairs kitchen
of Rowland House, Brighton waiting to interview David Raven (also known as
Maisie Trollette) about Polari. Forget The Lost Language of the Cranes
(whatever that was), The Lost Language of Polari is far more interesting,
and it's part of the topic of my PhD - The Language of Gay Men in the UK,
1750-1996.
It's not the easiest thing in the world doing a PhD which immediately makes
you "out". Whenever people ask me what subject I'm studying I still say it
with an apologetic shrug. There's no need to say afterwards "So that's my
topic sweet-heart, and if you don't like it then that's your problem, and
you're gonna have to live with that, OK?, in-yer-face-queer-rights-NOW!"
The message is implicitly stated anyway.
Reactions I've received have ranged from an incredulous "You gotta be
kidding me" from a very loud American to the PC-interest of "That is soooo
interesting". Is it interesting? Is it useful? Well I think so. The exact
origins and mechanics of Polari are still a linguistic mystery, and
language is an area where gay people are given free rein to flex their
creative muscles and create social exchanges that although might not be
very friendly (to outsiders or to each other) it at least allows them to
communicate on their own terms. Such was the motivation behind Polari,
although it could also be to do with the fact that in the 1950s if you so
much as wore white socks in those days the police would have you clapped in
irons for being "deviant".
Polari, as the language came to be known was a collection of words, which
when strung together by those most proficient at it, were incomprehensible
to those who didn't understand it. It was mainly used for conversations
that were high in gay "content", so if you wanted to point out to your
friend that the man on the tube train next to you seemed to be particularly
well-developed in the "menswear" department, you could say "vada the bona
cartes on the ommee ajax" and your friend would know what you meant. If the
man with the big "cartes" was also gay, he'd know what you were talking
about too, and Polari would serve as an "introduction" which could lead to
"other things".
Because Polari died out in the 1960s when the Wolfenden Report legalised
homosexuality (to an extent) in England, the only people who remember it
tend to be distinguished older gentlemen, just like David Raven, who has
agreed to tell me all he can remember about it. I am armed with a tape-
recorder, a pen, some bits of paper and a posh northern voice (although I
can flatten my vowels if necessary).
David still frequently performs as Maisie Trollette in Brighton, and is
something of a "doyenne" on the gay scene there. He greets me with "Who’s
the chicken?" and then starts arguing with three of his employees who are
dubbed "evil witches." When things have calmed down I am taken into the
dining room where we can conduct the interview in peace. However, his
friends don't seem to want to leave us alone, and are constantly passing
through to offer their opinions and questions ("Who is he? Is he an
actor?") .
Polari is never what it first appears. Before Kenneth Williams was a
household name with Carry-on Whatever, he was a household name in the radio
series "Round the Horne" which every week featured the antics of Julian and
Sandy and their latest attempts at trying to earn a bit of trade with Bona
Homes and Gardens, or Keep Britain Bona. In one episode, J + S are domestic
helps and have been shown into a kitchen where they are expected to get to
work. "I can't work in 'ere," complains Julian. "All the dishes are dirty!"
"Speak for yourself ducky," remarks Sandy, to audience mirth. However, this
is a very clever (and smutty) triple innuendo. The audience would probably
"get" the use of the word dish as an attractive young man, as in "Isn't he
dishy", but hardened Polari speakers also know that dish means anus, which
would afford them an extra laugh.
It's a shame that Polari did go out of fashion, even though its demise
coincided with the beginnings of gay liberation in England. Still, it's
nice to hear the odd Polari word occasionally: Julian Clary on his BBC2
show sometimes says "Let's have a vada" and a crop of new gay businesses
are opening up around the country, with fondly-devised names like Bona
Videos. As Julian and Sandy would say "Fantabulosa!"

_____________________

 This is a copy of an article Paul Baker wrote for Lancaster University's
student magazine "Scan" dated 15th November 1996.

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