Why prostitute called brass

The term is now used happily and proudly by the people of the east and north of London, who regard themselves as the 'real' Londoners in a very cosmopolitan city where a lot of the population have come in from other areas of the country or abroad.

As well as having a distinctive pronunciation and many grammatical features, the language of London is most notable for its Rhyming Slang. This consists of using a phrase that rhymes, sounds the same, as the word you want to say, so 'telephone' becomes 'dog and bone'. Unfortunately, many of the phrases then lose the second word, making it very hard for the outsider to guess the original meaning; 'rabbit' for 'talk' comes from the phrase 'rabbit and pork', but few would be able to guess it.

A lot of the original rhyming slang appeared among the market traders in the east end of London in the 19th century, but it is still used and new words and phrases are being invented all the time. Root of all evil. Ethical conundrums. This sporting life. Stage and screen. Birds and the bees. I guess it is rhyming slang but what? Steve, Leeds UK I too have wondered about this for a long time. The only connection that I could make was 'Thomas Moore' rhyming with 'whore.

I'll leave the rest for you to work out! Kenny Reeves, Hitchin England In the United States brothels are known as "cat houses" so despite our UK use of the word tomcat for a male of the species it could be that script writers saw the link as being of some interest. Active 5 years ago. Viewed 8k times. In the following dialogue, the main character, a Cockney English speaker played by actor Danny Dyer, waxes philosophical about why he enjoys being a football hooligan and would rather do nothing else on a weekend: What else are you gonna do on a Saturday?

I'm guessing this is slang of some sort, and I'd love to understand what he means by each word. Improve this question. Uticensis Uticensis Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Peter Taylor Peter Taylor 3, 22 22 silver badges 24 24 bronze badges.

Robusto: Aye, brasses in that context does mean prostitutes or related stuff, strip club girls, etc. A fruit machine is our phrase for what Americans call a slot machine , fruit because most of the earlier ones had fruit pictures on the reels and mainly still do.

To add to Peter's answer, with the parts he did not cover. Orbling Orbling 4, 2 2 gold badges 22 22 silver badges 29 29 bronze badges. Spagirl Spagirl Wow, I had no idea that "Corinthian leather" from the famous Chrysler ad campaign had that connotation. Wilfred Robert Wilfred Robert 1.

Brass means a prostitute or easy sex, but exactly why, -- the connecting word -- is debated. There's a long association between immodesty and brass cf brazen as a contrast with gold as a cheap imitation. The first two aren't slang terms; only the third is.