Planesrunner (Everness Book One) (30 page)

P
alari (polari, parlare) is a real secret language that has grown up in parallel with English. Its roots go back to seventeenth-century Thieves Cant in London—a secret thieves' language. It's passed through market traders and barrow-mongers, fairground showmen, the theatre, the Punch and Judy Show, and gay subculture. Palari (“the chat”—from the Italian
parlare
, “to talk”) contains words from many sources and languages: Italian, French,
lingua franca
(an old common trading language spoken across the Mediterranean), Yiddish, Romani, and even some Gaelic. It's taken in words from Cockney rhyming slang—“plates” for
feet
, from “plates of meat” = “feet”; and London back-slang—“eek” is short for “ecaf,” which is “face” backwards.

Many words from palari/polari have entered London English.

In Earth 3, palari is the private language of the Airish. In our world, polari still survives as a secret gay language.

GLOSSARY OF PALARI:

ajax: nearby (from adjacent?)

alamo: hot for her/him

amriya: a personal vow, promise, or restriction that cannot be broken (from Romani)

aunt nell: listen, hear

aunt nells: ears

barney: a fight

batts: shoes

bijou: small/little (means “jewel” in French)

blag: pick up/beg as a favour/get without paying

bod: body

bona: good

bona nochy: goodnight (from Italian—
buona notte)

bonaroo: wonderful, excellent

buvare: a drink (from Italian
bere
or old-fashioned Italian
bevere
or Lingua Franca
bevire)

capello: hat (from Italian
cappello)

carsey/khazi: toilet.

charper: to search (from Italian
chiappare
, to catch)

chavvie: child

chicken: young male/boy

clobber: clothes

cod: naff, vile

cove: friend

dally/dolly: sweet, kind.

Dinari: money (perhaps from Italian
denaro)

dish: ass, bum, arse

dona: woman (from Italian
donna
or Lingua Franca
dona)
a term of respect

dorcas: term of endearment, “one who cares.” The Dorcas Society was a ladies' church association of the nineteenth century, which made clothes for the poor.

doss: bed

drag: clothes, especially women's clothes (from Romani
indraka
, a skirt)

ecaf/eek: face (back-slang).
Eek
is an abbreviation of
ecaf
.

fantabulosa: fabulous/wonderful

feely: child/young/girl

fruit/fruity: in Hackney Great Port, a term of mild abuse

gelt: money (Yiddish)

kris: an Airish duel of honour (from Romani)

lacoddy: body

lallies: legs

latty: room or cabin on an airship

lilly: police (Lilly Law)

luppers: fingers (Yiddish
lapa
, a paw)

manjarry: food (from Italian
mangiare
or Lingua Franca
mangiaria)

measures: money

meese: plain, ugly, despicable (from Yiddish
meeiskeit:
loathsome, despicable, abominable)

meshigener: nutty, crazy, mental (from Yiddish)

metzas: money (Italian
mezzi:
means, wherewithal)

naff: awful, dull, tasteless

nante: not, no, none (Italian:
niente)

ogle: look, admire

omi: man/guy

omi-palone: effeminate man or homosexual

onk: nose

palare pipe: telephone (“talk pipe”)

palliass: mattress or place to sleep.

polone: woman/girl

riah: hair (back-slang)

scarper: to run off (from Italian
scappare
, to escape or run away)

sharpy: policeman (from “charpering omi”)

sharpy palone: policewoman

shush: steal

shush-bag: hold-all/backpack

slap: makeup

so: to be part of the in-crowd/Airish (e.g. “Is he so?”)

strides: trousers

tober: road

todd: alone (from rhyming slang
Todd Sloanne
—alone)

troll: to walk about looking for business or some kind of opportunity

varda: to see/look at (from Italian dialect
vardare
=
guardare
—look at)

yews: eyes (from French
yeux)

zhoosh: style, make a show of, mince (Romani:
zhouzho
—clean, neat)

zhooshy: flashy, showy

I
AN M
C
DONALD
has written thirteen science fiction novels and has lost count of the number of stories. He's been nominated for every major science fiction award, and even won some. Ian also works in television, in programme development—all those reality shows have to come from somewhere—and has written for screen as well as print. He lives in Northern Ireland, just outside Belfast, and loves to travel.
Planesrunner
is the first part of the
Everness
series.