April 2011

In a recent blog post about the Evolving English exhibition, I mentioned Polari. Polari (or alternatively palari, parlare, parlary) was a secret language or gay slang, popular with the British gay community from about 1900 until the 1970s, and made famous by the 1960s radio show Round the Horne with Kenneth Williams. But what are its origins? Well, Polari is a complex...