| back slang |
| Definition - A type of Cockney slang in which words are pronounced as if spelled backwards. |
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Example - The yob's spinsrap (Translation: The boy's parsnips.) |
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Etymology - Some claim that the phenomenon originated in 19th-century Cockney London among market sellers, such as butchers, but I haven't found any sources other than the OED citation below that back this up. If anybody has any further info, please let me know. |
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Oxford English Dictionary - The term's first citation is from 1860 (in Modern Slang, 256). Its first quoted citation is from 1862 (Wheatley): "Back Slang … is formed by the costermongers upon anagrammatical principles; thus look is cool." (Wheatley Anagrams, 141) |
