Polari, the secret gay language: 7 words we still use & 6 we should bring back

If you've ever talked about drag, camp, butches, and/or trade, you know at least some words from Polari, a secret gay language adopted by gay men in the United Kingdom between the 1920s and the 1960s.

Polari was a gay slang language popularized in the U.K. while homosexuality was illegal, prompting gay men to find secret ways to communicate with one another without society understanding what they were talking about. According to Paul Baker of Lancaster University, there were approximately 500 terms and words in Polari, but most people who spoke the language weren't familiar with all of them.

Over the years, Baker has explained that the language came from a variety of sources, including rhyming slang, backslang (or pronouncing a word spelled backwards), as well as "Italian, Occitan, French, Lingua Franca, American air force slang, drug-user slang, Parlyaree (an older slang used by tinkers, beggars, and traveling players) and Cant (an even older form of slang used by criminals)."

7 words that come from Polari and we still use as gay slang.

Similar to the Hanky Code, Polari was used between gay men who wanted to identify one another while keeping anonymity in front of straight people.

more..