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Thank you

Varda the bona lallie*

*Translation from Polari: Look at the nice package. (Respectfully 😜).

Polari is a slice of queer British history: a playful, camp code used mostly in and around London by gay men (and other communities) to chat openly while staying safe at a time when same-sex relationships were criminalised and heavily policed. It borrowed from theatre and circus slang, sailors’ talk, rhyming slang, Italianate words, plus bits of Yiddish and Romani.

People used Polari to:

Clock a safe person and let them know you were “in the know”
Speak about flirting, sex, the police, or danger without getting overheard
Bring humour, swagger, and style into everyday conversation

Polari is no longer an everyday necessity, but it lives on as cultural heritage. However, you still hear Polari words used for humour, identity, and nostalgia, especially in queer communities, theatre, and pop culture. A few words have also crossed into wider British English, like naff for example.

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