| Backslang - A secret language |
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Were you one of the thousands of Merseysiders who spoke "blackslang"? Were you able to talk to your friends in school, or out playing in the streets, in your own private dialect? There were several versions of this unique form of communication, which some believe came from the Romany culture. For instance, "window" might become "indoway"; "dinner" = "innerday". It's a dying art form, but there are still local men and women who can "talk the lingo" .- listen to Alice from Croxteth, and Alan from Little Sutton, as they demonstrate their backward linguistic skills.
| Memories of Backslang... | I was brought up around the Crown Street/Paddington area in the late 50's and early 60's and lots of land spoke backsland as demonstrated by Freddie Connor. We moved to Childwall and I went to Gateacre Comprehensive and found that many other people from the south of the city spoke it. There was a variation of the H A G example which Freddie used. This was to put H A B in front of the vowel sounds instead of H A G. After moving to Runcorn, I worked on nights at the sorting office and myself and a lad who had moved to Speke used to have the Runcornians baffled by holding conversations in backslang. It's very easy to pick up. I was once told by a policeman who worked in Liverpool, but came from Glasgow that he arrested a young man for shouting at him in backslang because he assumed he had been swearing at him. He probably was!
Ronnie Williams |
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