Rechtub klat
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Rechtub klat is a cryptolect used by butchers in Australia to hold conversations without customers overhearing. Rechtub klat is essentially a form of backslang, and consists of saying words as they would be pronounced backwards. To aid in pronunciation, anagrams may be employed (i.e., "shit" becomes "tish"), and sometimes initial consonants are pronounced separately (i.e., "bmal" is pronounced "bee-mal").
Rechtub klat is often used for discussing customers who are in earshot; common uses involve commenting on the physical attributes of female customers or complaining about difficult customers. It has fallen into something of a decline in recent decades. Where once butchers could hold entire conversations in rechtub klat, these days a smaller vocabulary is used.
Example words include:
Kool, look
toh, hot
lrig, girl
Cuf and also Kay-cuffed, fucked
ecaf, face
On, no
erom, more
Traf, fart
Toor, root
Doog, good
tsub, bust
esra, arse
Gaf, fag
tar, rat
tee-nuk, cunt
on doog, no good
sip foe, piss off
yen-om, money
uoo rus, you are
kay-laughing, talking
In France, the language game Louchébem was used by butchers for similar purposes.
An example of rechtub klat can be heard in the 2002 film The Hard Word, starring Guy Pearce and Rachel Griffiths.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Tricks of the trade
- Slang site
- The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: All Men Are Liars - The secret language of butchers