Posters with messages written in secret LGBT language pop up in Tube stations
London (TfL) is marking Pride month by remembering a secret language the LGBTQ+ community used to use. Homosexuality was illegal in England and Wales until 1967, forcing the community underground.Up until about the 1970s, Polari – a language ‘made up of Italianate phrases, rhyming slang and cant terms’ – was in usage in the capital’s secret gay scene.Polari was first developed in the 1700s and 1800s by vagrants, circus performers, sailors and travellers.
As LGBTQ+ people were also ousted by traditional society, Polari became a way for people to identify and chat with each other without anyone else knowing.
TfL has put posters up with messages written in the slang as part of its campaign to celebrate 50 years of Pride with the rest of London.One sign, ‘bona to vada your dolly old eke’ means ‘nice to see your pretty old face’.Another says: ‘You turn my oyster up’.
This translates to: ‘This makes me smile’. TfL has put up ‘specially-designed’ photos and posters advertising LGBTQ+ businesses which have served a ‘role, legacy and support’ for the community.
