Cants

Does anybody know anything about cants (ie deliberately obfuscated in-group
dialects and languages). I'd particulary like to know about the processes
involved in deriving them from "normal" languages. The one I'm most
familiar with is Cockney rhyming slang, whose normal formation process was
find a stock phrase that rhymes with the target word, and then drop the
rhyming part. I've also heard of Polari, which I believe is generally along
the lines of "How bona it is to gander your eek!"

Pete

Replies