Fabulosa!: The Story of Polari, Britain’s Secret Gay Language

Polari is a language that was used chiefly by gay men at a time when being gay could result in criminal prosecution, offering a means of camouflage and identification. Its roots are varied – from Cant to dancers’ slang – and in the mid-1960s it was thrust into the limelight by the characters Julian and Sandy on the radio show Round the Horne (‘Oh Mr Horne, how bona to vada your dolly old eke!’).

With humour and tenderness, Paul Baker traces Polari’s origins and describes its linguistic nuts and bolts, explores the environments in which it was spoken, and explains the reasons for its decline and unlikely re-emergence.

With a cast of drag queens and sailors, Dilly boys and macho clones, Fabulosa! is an essential document of recent history and a fascinating account of this ingenious language.