Cockney Rhyming Slang

Rhyming Slang phrases are derived from taking an expression which rhymes with a word and then using that expression instead of the word. For example the word "look" rhymes with "butcher's hook". In many cases the rhyming word is omitted - so you won't find too many Londoners having a "bucher's hook" at this site, but you might find a few having a "butcher's".
The rhyming word is not always omitted so Cockney expressions can vary in their construction, and it is simply a matter of convention which version is used.

Cockney Rhyming Slang originated in the East End of London. Some slang expressions have escaped from London and are in popular use throughout the rest of Britain. For example "use your loaf" is an everyday phrase for the British, but not too many people realise it is Cockney Rhyming Slang ("loaf of bread: head").

Apples and pears = stairs
Biscuits and cheese = knees
Army and navy = gravy
Loaf of bread = head
Mince pies = eyes
Raspberry tart = fart
Pony and trap = crap
Daisy roots = boots
Dog and bone = phone
Donkey's ears = years
Elephant's trunk = drunk
Rosie lee = tea
Weasel and stoat = coat

Cockney Rhyming slang is a coded language invented in the nineteenth century by Cockneys so they could speak in front of the police without being understood. It uses a phrase that rhymes with a word, instead of the word itself – thus ‘stairs’ becomes ‘apples and pears’, ‘phone’ becomes ‘dog and bone' and ‘word’ becomes ‘dicky bird’. It can become confusing when sometimes the rhyming part of the word is dropped: thus ‘daisies’ are ‘boots’ (from ‘daisy roots’).