Watching
an old Hitchcock film from the 1930s, I noted the actors, portraying members of
the British upper-class, spoke with such tortured vowels and clipped consonants
that it was virtually impossible to understand a word (a phenomenon not helped
by a scratchy sound track). What
these folks were speaking is “Fraffly”—a term coined by the pseudonymous
linguist Afferbeck Lauder to describe the affected English dialect sometimes
spoken in certain parts of London’s West End such as Mayfair and Belgravia.
The
name “Fraffly” comes from the way Lauder suggests these Brit twits pronounce
“Frightfully,” which is often used as a synonym for “very.” The classic example is the phrase
“Fraffly caned a few”—which translates as “Frightfully kind of you.”
Can
you get the sense of these other examples of Fraffly? (It helps if you say them aloud through your nose and think
of yourself as Bertie Wooster.)
Ashered if thotty would hef bin myrrh kretful.
Wong con blemmer, relleh, when won nerzer bare
crond.
Earce and nir.
Shiss fay caned, and fay swit; aim fay fawn
torfa.
Ah peck your poncer, putt mairn trop choofra
merment?
Sweller’s bing a jollickered spot, yolso plessy fittel.
Aim Kuwait sheer hiss nert kirming to the fermly
mitting.
The
Bard of Buffalo Bayou has no truck with Fraffly; in fact he has no truck of any
sort. His preferred mode of
transport is a little red wagon, which many of his unfortunate readers would
like to fix. He does, however,
know a tale or two about Belgravia and Mayfair.
I.
A
vicar who preached in Belgravia
Engaged
in most shocking behaviour:
He’d
blaspheme the bishop
In
sermons he’d dish up--
Then
blame them on St. Francis Xavier!
II.
An
asthmatic vicar in Mayfair,
Used
a filter to guarantee safe air,
Then,
with no bronchial strictures,
He’d
go to the pictures,
Where
he liked to watch nothing but gay fare.
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