Book Review: Fabulosa! - The Story of Polari, Britain's Secret Gay Language by Paul Baker

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/04/book-review-fabulosa-the-story-of-polari-britains-secret-gay-language-by-paul-baker/

This is a gem of a book. The language of Polari was used extensively in the gay community during the early 20th century. A way to speak without being overheard, using a mixture of rhyming slang, underworld cant, and loanwords. While Julian and his friend Sandy dominate the story - being one of the only mass-broadcast records of the language - the book dives in to the hidden history of its origins, how it developed, and what happened to it.

Written by a professor with an excellent ability to introduce the nouvel étudiant0 to the first principles of linguistics without being overwhelming, it introduced me to several new concepts:

The term anti-language refers to forms of language that are used by people who are somehow apart from mainstream society, either residing on the edges of it, perhaps frowned on in some way, or hidden away or even criminalised, with attempts from the mainstream to expel or contain them.

It also gives an overview of whether Polari is a language, or merely argot, slang, or cipher.

Without explicitly mentioning Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, it gradually makes the case that Polari wasn't just about hiding intentions; it was a way to rewrite the way speakers viewed society.

they use language to represent reality in a different way, so that the values of the anti-society are produced, as opposed to the values of the mainstream society.

Polari is an oral language, there's very little written down outside of a few diaries, so the book relies heavily on interviews with former-speakers. The author acknowledges the problems with this and cheerfully points out where speculation is used to cover for a lack of evidence. Nevertheless, it does feel slightly defensively written.

Similarly, the author acknowledges that the modern world can find the use of some Polari terms problematic. The attitudes of some of the interviewees are, obviously, a little dated. There's a good discussion about the philosophical split between the Gay Liberation Front and other groups. Should homosexuals be accepted by the mainstream - or does that destroy their culture? Certainly the decriminalisation homosexuality and eventual legalisation of equal marriage played a part in the language's downfall.

One problem with reading a book about a spoken language is that it can be like watching a dance-recital about philosophy:

Take for example fantabulosa, which contains five syllables: fan-tab-u-los-a. If used as an exclamation, as Sandy would sometimes do, the ‘a’ sound in the syllable ‘tab’ would be extended while the following ‘u’ would have a falling intonation.

There's also a fascinating discussion about how culture evolves. First secret, then mainstream, then out-of-date, then retro, then sold back to us. Polari went through the same cycle and is now making its way back. The word "Polari" pops in and out of vogue as mainstream culture changes. As seen in:

This is a witty, and occasionally wryly bitchy, look at a slice of culture which was much wider than the Julian and Sandy sketches. A perfect book for language lovers.

0. That's yer actual French! ↩︎