What is rhyming slangs influence on the English language?
The first is an artificial thing. It’s a museum piece that we are very fond of and proud of. It’s almost not part of the ordinary language, but a British heritage item. It is almost as much an icon of British life as Tower Bridge. But it also has another influence of filtering into the general language. Most rhyming slang has two parts and it is common to cut off the second bit, the rhyming bit. When this happens the link with the original rhyme gets lost and people don’t realise it. It just melts into the background of the language. Most people when they say ‘on your tod’ for being on your own, maybe don’t realise they are using rhyming slang for Todd Sloan – a famous American jockey from the 19th century.
