Polari and its role in forbidden past times
LAU your luppers on the strillers bona. That may seem like gibberish to some, but to others, particularly older generations of the LGBTQIA+ community, it translates into Polari and means “play something nice on the piano.” Polari was a spoken language used in the 1950s and 60s by gay men to skirt around the UK’s harsh antihomosexuality laws.
It is believed the lexicon wasn’t a constructed language but rather a mysterious vocabulary developed during a time when society not only stigmatised but illegalised homosexuality. Hence why it was used as a tool for gay men to express themselves without the fear of being fired, thrown into jail or chemically castrated.
The language is made up of a combination of “Italianate phrases, rhyming slang and cant terms,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary. It was fairly common for Polari phrases to appear in theatre and ballet and is often variously referred to as Palare, Palyaree or Palary.
Despite their original meanings being virtually forgotten, some Polari words and phrases are still used today, with camp, trade and butch all stemming from the gay slang.
Polari often switched male pronouns for females, including names - she to him and George to Georgia - to continue allowing the appearance of heterosexuality.
Chloe Hallam, the cofounder and current president of the Queer society at Edge Hill University, said: “Polari is a dying language with such a rich history within the queer community. It was so incredibly useful and there is definitely a bitter sweetness to the fact that Polari is dying as not only a language but an art form with its links to theatre and beyond just the scope of gay men.
“It was used by sailors, theatrics and lesbians.”
The language went mainstream in 1960 all thanks to an “obviousbut-not-official” gay character, Julian. Julian, played by the late Hugh Paddick, was the lead effeminate character who featured on BBC’s popular comedy radio show, Round the Horne. Every Sunday, audiences of up to nine million people would hear stupendously confusing expressions from him such as “how bona to vada your eek,” which translates to “it’s nice to see your pretty face,” or “boner nochy” which means good night.
Although not all phrases were as polite with the language often being used to discuss sex. BBC writers took advantage of this as they quickly came to realise Polari served more than one purpose as it allowed them to dabble in risque jokes at a time when censorship was strict. Leading the censorship brigade was activist Mary Whitehouse, who battled against the BBC for various perceived indecencies throughout its programming.
Meanwhile, Julian and his best friend Sandy – Carry On star Kenneth Williams – would speak openly about sex and not one complaint was received by her because of her stand.
Chloe, an education and history student from Ormskirk, added: “There have been accounts of gay men teaching their straight friends about Polari and it just creates that really strong sense of allyship. In the 60s Polari was engraved into the queer community and the queer way of life and it just emphasises the bittersweetness now looking back. It is so great we don’t have to use a secret code to communicate, but it is also such a shame that it isn’t known by many in the LGBTQ+ community, especially the younger generations.”
When the LGBTQ+ community began the exhausting fight for equality and acceptance, Polari faded as the need to remove Britain’s onedimensional view of masculinity being anything but camp and effeminate took the forefront - consequently, this included Round the Horne’s Julian.
“As more people learned about Polari, the less queer people spook it themselves.