Thursday, February 9, 2012

Frog And Toad

Frog and toad \frawg-and-tohd\ , noun;
1. Slang: Road

This phrase is from Cockney rhyming slang, which has been around the East End of London since at least the mid-1800's. It works by replacing a word with a rhyming phrase (e.g. frog and toad for road, apples and pears for stairs) and then often omitting the rhyming word. So He's upstairs becomes He's up the apples and pears becomes He's up the apples. It's a kind of in-group argot or jargon, which further separates Cockney speakers from other English dialectal groups. This particular phrase is first attested in 1859 and has lasted through at least 2007.

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