Meaning of Cockney | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A native or inhabitant of parts of the East End of London.
2. Any Londoner.
   UK, slang
3. The dialect or accent of such Londoners.
4. An effeminate person; a spoilt child.
   obsolete
5. A Londoner born within earshot of the city's Bow Bells, or (now generically) any working-class Londoner.
   UK

Equivalents

Examples

“COCKNEY, a native of London. An ancient nickname implying effeminacy, used by the oldest English writers, and derived from the imaginary fool's paradise, or lubberland, Cockaygne.”

“Londoners, and all within the sound⟳ of Bow Bell, are in reproach called Cockneys.”

“A Cockney or Cocksie, applied only to one born within the sound⟳ of Bow bell, that is in the City of London.”

““Charming place⟳, ma’am,” said he, bowing to the widow; “noble prospect—delightful to us Cocknies, who seldom see⟳ anything but Pall Mall.””

“Parkinson: You made films before, but the part that really made your name⟳ was Zulu, wasn't it […] and there of course—against type⟳—you played the toff, you played the officer. Caine: I played the officer, yeah, and everybody thought I was like⟳ that. Everyone was so shocked when they met me, this like⟳ Cockney guy had played this toffee-nosed git.”

“A cockney in a rural village was stared at as much as if he had entered a kraal of Hottentots.”

“A young heir, or cockney, that is his mother's darling[…]”

“This great lubber, the world, will prove⟳ a cockney.”

CEFR level