A brief history of Polari: the cur after-life of the ad language for gay men

Contents:

• POLARI: THE LANGUAGE GAY MEN ED TO SURVIVE
• REDISVERG POLARI: HOW THIS SECRET GAY LANGUAGE HELPED CREATE LGBT CULTURE
• REDISVERG POLARI: HOW THIS GAY DIALECT IS A MAP OF FOTTEN SUBCULTUR
• A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLARI, GAY ENGLAND’S ONCE-SECRET LGO
• POLARI, THE FOTTEN GAY LANGUAGE
• POLARI: A GAY SLANG THAT FLOURISHED OUT OF PREJUDICE
• THE FETS AND JABS OF POLARI, BRA’S GAY SLANG
• POLARI: THE LOST LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN
• REMEMBERG POLARI, THE FOTTEN LANGUAGE OF BRA'S GAY COMMUNY
• GAY HISTORY: HOW BONA TO VADA YOUR EEK! POLARI – THE GAY LGO

POLARI: THE LANGUAGE GAY MEN ED TO SURVIVE

”That may seem like a strg of nonsense words om Dr Sss’s The Cat the Hat or Anthony Burgs’s A Clockwork Orange but ’s a real-life greetg gay men the UK would say to each other the 1950s and 60s.

To avoid imprisonment, gay men ed Polari, a language that the Oxford English Dictnary says is “ma up of Italianate phras, rhymg slang and nt terms.

Comg to s own the late 1940s, Polari was the secret dialect of the unrground gay scene, allowg men to nverse eely about themselv and their sexual activi a time when they uld be imprisoned for their sexualy. In Queer London, a book documentg the history of gay culture the cy, thor Matt Houlbrook scrib Polari as “a way of creatg a space which to be queer, ” and nothg uld be more te. “Fsy” also lacks the nuance of sheh, an adjective that scrib the troers both visually and culturally, bee if somethg is sheh  is also herently gay.

REDISVERG POLARI: HOW THIS SECRET GAY LANGUAGE HELPED CREATE LGBT CULTURE

* Although the term “drag” (meang men drsg women’s clothg) dat back to 1800s theatre termology, by bg wh the word “queen” or “quean” (which was a self-intifier for gay men London the mid 1800s-mid 1900s), Polari speakers created the current meang of the term “drag queen”: Queer men/people who drs women’s clothg for entertament.

But for Brish gay men (and sometim women) the first half of the 20th century, Polari wasn’t jt a cute jargon: It was a secret , one that was absolutely gay Bra before about 50 years ago was dangero bs, and even beg perceived as gay then uld st you a prison sentence (homosexualy was crimalized the UK 1967).

In fact, gay culture was discsed so rarely that newspapers would report on gay people who were arrted as beg guilty of "gross cency, " sce was nsired taboo to even wre (or speak) the words "gay" or "homosexual.

REDISVERG POLARI: HOW THIS GAY DIALECT IS A MAP OF FOTTEN SUBCULTUR

As language profsor Pl Baker of the UK’s Lanster Universy wr his 2002 book Polari—The Lost Language of Gay Men, was a lgo of "fast put-downs, ironic self-parody and theatril exaggeratn. " By other acunts, the roots of Polari are at least partially to be found the lgua an ed by Mederranean sailors and trars the Middle Ag and 's difficult to say when exactly Polari began, but at some pot performers—pecially actors, and pecially gay actors—began to e a distct argot to munite wh each other, often for the purpose of gossipg. Born om many different subculture dialects, Polari is a secret language that not only allowed gay men to talk about sex whout beg persecuted or prosecuted but was also a ccial buildg block of queer culture.

Although homosexualy was illegal the UK until 1967, unrground queer culture thrived the late 19th and 20th centuri — and much of that was thanks to Polari.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLARI, GAY ENGLAND’S ONCE-SECRET LGO

While Polari started as a secret language for gay men, quickly beme an open secret, and fewer people were askg “what is Polari? It was que clear that the men were gay, although this was illegal at the time — and Round The Horne even ma fun of the crimaly:.

Yet, for all the good that Round The Horne did for the acceptance of homosexualy, the more people learned about Polari, the ls queer people wanted to speak themselv. The ph for homosexualy to be crimalized (which me to un 1967), led to a movement away om Polari and mp culture wh the LGBT muny. Begng his study of the language the neti, Baker wrote his doctoral this on the subject, entled Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men.

POLARI, THE FOTTEN GAY LANGUAGE

The Story Of Polari, Bra’s Secret Gay Language, this book is an -pth history wh plenty of fun anecdot om Baker’s terviewe. Polari first me about the theatre and the gay subculture Bra the 1950s and 1960s, beg more wily known om s hidn e by mp rad characters a popular BBC rad show which ran om 1964 to 1969.

It grew up primarily to disguise homosexual activy om potentially hostile outsirs (such as unrver policemen), but also bee many gay men worked entertament (cludg circ, hence the many borrowgs om Romany Polari). It was also ed extensively the Merchant Navy, where many gay men joed cise ships (particularly P&O) as waers, stewards and entertaers.

POLARI: A GAY SLANG THAT FLOURISHED OUT OF PREJUDICE

Polari had begun to fall to dise by the late 1960s, the populary of Julian and Sandy ensured that this secret language was public property, and the gay liberatnists of the 1970s viewed as rather gradg, divisive and polilly rrect (a lot of was ed to gossip about or cricise people, as well as discsg sexual explos). In 2002 two books on Polari were published, Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men, and Fantabulosa: A Dictnary of Polari and Gay Slang (both by Pl Baker).

THE FETS AND JABS OF POLARI, BRA’S GAY SLANG

That means 'nice to see your pretty face' Polari, a slang wh roots the theater that for s functned as a kd of secret wh Bra's gay muny. (Image cred: Alamy)Fifty years ago, the Sexual Offenc Act beme law, crimalisg homosexual acts that took place private between two men over the age of 21.

The secret language beme a kd of verbal wk between gay men Bra durg the early 20th Century – allowg them to hi and to reveal at the same time.

POLARI: THE LOST LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

Yet the years when homosexualy was illegal, was a way of munitg public whout riskg arrt – as well as a chance to challenge the stat was a secret language that beme a kd of verbal wk between gay men Bra durg the early 20th Century (Cred: Alamy)Layerg upon layerg of different fluenc ensur that there is no one sgle versn of Polari but many versns – Pl Baker“It was a secret, spoken form of language, ed maly by groups of people who were on the margs of society and associated wh crimaly, ” says Pl Baker, a lguistic history expert at the Universy of Lanster and thor of Fantabulosa: A Dictnary of Polari and Gay Slang. ” Some of the words are what’s been lled ‘backslang' – hair is ‘riah’, and face is ‘eek’ (om ‘ef’) was taken up mic halls, Palarie beme associated wh gay men at the start of the 20th Century. To make thgs more plited, Baker has seen a few ‘backronyms’, or fns applied after a word’s meang has evolved – such as ‘mp’ as g om ‘Known As Male Prostute’ 1967, the Sexual Offenc Act beme law, crimalisg homosexual acts that took place private between two men over the age of 21 (Cred: Alamy)Polari has s own vobulary for elements that mastream society is not terted – Pl BakerBaker believ Polari is a form of ‘anti-language’ – a term ed by the lguist Michael Halliday 1978 that Baker f as “a language ed by people who are on the ‘outsi’ of mastream society”.

“It was sometim tght by olr, more tablished people on the gay scene as a way of iatg newer people to a mp worldview, ” says Baker.

“Some gay men ed socially, to make one another lgh, sometim by nductg humoro arguments which volved clever sults Polari. Polari is a secret language, which has now largely fallen out of e, but was historilly spoken by gay men and female impersonators.

REMEMBERG POLARI, THE FOTTEN LANGUAGE OF BRA'S GAY COMMUNY

Also associated wh travellers, bkers, beggars and prostut, found s way to Bra, pecially London and port ci, and gradually beme ed by gay men and female impersonators, pecially durg the first half of the 20th century. In a perd when homosexualy was illegal and heavily stigmatised, was eful as a means of nductg nversatns public spac, which would have alerted others to your sexualy. Insertg a Polari word – such as bona (good) or palone (woman) – to a sentence uld act as a d way of intifyg other people who might be gay.

GAY HISTORY: HOW BONA TO VADA YOUR EEK! POLARI – THE GAY LGO

Some younger gay men were more terted ncepts like gay pri, gay liberatn and g out and viewed Polari as a naff byproduct of a more reprsive time. In the 1970s, an early gay magaze lled Lunch, activists brand Polari as ghettoisg and gradually beme surpl to requirements.

While few gay men today actively e Polari, recent years has gaed a kd of latent rpectabily as an historic language – siar to the way Lat is seen by the Catholic fah.