Usenet Posted 21 years ago
Usage
The slang term 'Tom'
Hello all,
I hope that someone may be able to give me the definitive answer to this question:
What is the derivation of the slang word 'Tom' to mean a prostitute, as used in the TV show 'The Bill' ?
The most logical I've heard is Cockney Rhyming Slang, 'Thomas More' = '***' but the person who told me that wasn't sure. I am actually a born & bred Londoner but had never heard this term before coming across it on 'The Bill' and even my Cockney grandfather, a Smithfield market porter for forty years, could not be sure!
Any help gratefully received!
Del
I hope that someone may be able to give me the definitive answer to this question:
What is the derivation of the slang word 'Tom' to mean a prostitute, as used in the TV show 'The Bill' ?
The most logical I've heard is Cockney Rhyming Slang, 'Thomas More' = '***' but the person who told me that wasn't sure. I am actually a born & bred Londoner but had never heard this term before coming across it on 'The Bill' and even my Cockney grandfather, a Smithfield market porter for forty years, could not be sure!
Any help gratefully received!
Del
Top answer
[nq:1]Hello all, I hope that someone may be able to give me the definitive answer to this question: What is ... and even my Cockney grandfather, a Smithfield market porter for forty years, could not be sure! [/nq] Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has seventeen separate entries for "tom" before it even gets around to the compounds and phrases.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
0
[nq:1]Hello all, I hope that someone may be able to give me the definitive answer to this question: What is ... and even my Cockney grandfather, a Smithfield market porter for forty years, could not be sure! Any help gratefully received![/nq]
Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has seventeen separate entries for "tom" before it even gets around to the compounds and phrases. The one you want is:
Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has seventeen separate entries for "tom" before it even gets around to the compounds and phrases. The one you want is:
00
[nq:2]Hello all, I hope that someone may be able to ... forty years, could not be sure! Any help gratefully received![/nq]
[nq:1]Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has seventeen separate entries for "tom" before it even gets around to the compounds and phrases. ... prostitute , especially one working in Mayfair (cf. EDIE). (abbr. US Underworld tommy, a girl / TOM n.6 / TOM-TART)[/nq]
Many thank
[nq:1]Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has seventeen separate entries for "tom" before it even gets around to the compounds and phrases. ... prostitute , especially one working in Mayfair (cf. EDIE). (abbr. US Underworld tommy, a girl / TOM n.6 / TOM-TART)[/nq]
Many thank
00
[nq:2](By the way, does Thomas More rhyme with ***, in England? I thought it was pronounced more like "Moore", but I don't remember why.)[/nq]
[nq:1]It is pronounced 'Moore' but then Cockney Rhyming Slang isn't always an exact rhyme.[/nq]
Anyway, isn't "Moore" pronounced like "more" in cocknE? Ron speaks cocknE; ask Him.
[nq:1]It is pronounced 'Moore' but then Cockney Rhyming Slang isn't always an exact rhyme.[/nq]
Anyway, isn't "Moore" pronounced like "more" in cocknE? Ron speaks cocknE; ask Him.
00
[nq:2]Hello all, I hope that someone may be able to ... forty years, could not be sure! Any help gratefully received![/nq]
[nq:1]Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has seventeen separate entries for "tom" before it even gets around to the compounds and phrases. ... 19th-c. Australian term for a woman. Possibly rhyming to "sweetheart." I don't know if it had a more literal meaning.[/nq]
Partridg
[nq:1]Cassell's Dictionary of Slang has seventeen separate entries for "tom" before it even gets around to the compounds and phrases. ... 19th-c. Australian term for a woman. Possibly rhyming to "sweetheart." I don't know if it had a more literal meaning.[/nq]
Partridg
00
[nq:1]Hello all, I hope that someone may be able to give me the definitive answer to this question: What is ... even my Cockney grandfather, a Smithfield market porter for forty years, could not be sure! Any help gratefully received! Del[/nq]
I've never ever heard this except in The Bill either (I'm not a Londoner but I'm from the South and lived in London for six years).
I've wondere
I've never ever heard this except in The Bill either (I'm not a Londoner but I'm from the South and lived in London for six years).
I've wondere
00
[nq:2]Hello all, I hope that someone may be able to ... Smithfield market porter for forty years, could not be sure![/nq]
[nq:1]I've never ever heard this except in The Bill either (I'm not a Londoner but I'm from the South and ... I've wondered if The Bill writers invented it to give a bit of unique argot to the Sun Hill nick...[/nq]
Nah. I was hearing it (as noun and verb) in Manchester
[nq:1]I've never ever heard this except in The Bill either (I'm not a Londoner but I'm from the South and ... I've wondered if The Bill writers invented it to give a bit of unique argot to the Sun Hill nick...[/nq]
Nah. I was hearing it (as noun and verb) in Manchester
00
[nq:2]I've never ever heard this except in The Bill either ... a bit of unique argot to the Sun Hill nick...[/nq]
[nq:1]Nah. I was hearing it (as noun and verb) in Manchester in the 60s.[/nq]
How did the verb work John? 'She's off toming'? (not sure if that should be a double M).
DC
[nq:1]Nah. I was hearing it (as noun and verb) in Manchester in the 60s.[/nq]
How did the verb work John? 'She's off toming'? (not sure if that should be a double M).
DC
00
[nq:2]Hello all, I hope that someone may be able to ... years, could not be sure! Any help gratefully received! Del[/nq]
[nq:1]I've never ever heard this except in The Bill either (I'm not a Londoner but I'm from the South and ... if The Bill writers invented it to give a bit of unique argot to the Sun Hill nick... DC DC[/nq]
OED takes it back to 1914 as a prostitute.
Citation for 1977
[nq:1]I've never ever heard this except in The Bill either (I'm not a Londoner but I'm from the South and ... if The Bill writers invented it to give a bit of unique argot to the Sun Hill nick... DC DC[/nq]
OED takes it back to 1914 as a prostitute.
Citation for 1977
00
[nq:2]Nah. I was hearing it (as noun and verb) in Manchester in the 60s.[/nq]
[nq:1]How did the verb work John? 'She's off toming'? (not sure if that should be a double M).[/nq]
Off toming again, can't stay away from that reading room. CDB
[nq:1]How did the verb work John? 'She's off toming'? (not sure if that should be a double M).[/nq]
Off toming again, can't stay away from that reading room. CDB
0