Cockney Wanker

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Cockney Wanker
Publication information
Publisher Viz
Created by Graham Dury and Simon Thorpe

Cockney Wanker is a character created by Graham Dury and Simon Thorpe [1] [2] in Viz based on a stereotyped male Cockney. Wanker speaks in rhyming slang (often slang invented by the writers) and spends his days drinking and selling stolen or unworkable goods to passers-by from an East End market stall. Another of Wanker's specialities is trading used cars. Playing upon the stereotype of the indigenous population of London being fantasists, Wanker often buys a car, sells it back to the same person for the same amount of money, then declares the transaction to have been "A nice little earner!" He wears cheap gold jewellery or Argos bling and 'Laahndan' gangster dark glasses, and is often seen smoking a cigar.

Contents

He is a wife-beater [3] and lifelong racist [4] who complains about "Sooties", yet respects Frank Bruno. He is established as a royalist, especially supportive of the Queen Mother, spouting received wisdom such as "Ninety Free she is. Ninety Free. Wahn the bladdy war for us she did!"

Wanker's appearance is based on a combination of a stereotypical London taxi driver and Mike Reid's [1] character Frank Butcher from EastEnders . [5] His characterisation also draws elements from David Jason's "Del Trotter" in Only Fools and Horses . Other characters in the strip closely resemble EastEnders characters, e.g. Shirl, his long suffering and battered wife (Kathy Beale) and Lou, Shirl's fearsome old-school East End mother (Lou Beale).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhyming slang</span> Any system of slang in which a word is replaced with a phrase that rhymes with it

Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhyming slang. In the US, especially the criminal underworld of the West Coast between 1880 and 1920, rhyming slang has sometimes been known as Australian slang.

<i>Viz</i> (comics) British adult comic magazine

Viz is a British adult comic magazine founded in 1979 by Chris Donald. It parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with extensive profanity, toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour and generally sexual or violent storylines. It also sends up tabloid newspapers, with mockeries of articles and letters pages. It features parody competitions and advertisements for overpriced 'limited edition' tat, as well as obsessions with half-forgotten kitsch celebrities from the 1960s to the 1980s, such as Shakin' Stevens and Rodney Bewes. Occasionally, it satirises current affairs and politicians, but it has no particular political standpoint.

Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle-class roots. The term Cockney is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, or, traditionally, born within earshot of Bow Bells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wanker</span> Insult

Wanker is slang for "one who wanks (masturbates)", but is most often used as a general insult. It is a pejorative term of English origin common in Britain and other parts of the English-speaking world, including Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is synonymous with the insult tosser.

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References

  1. 1 2 "10 Funniest Londoners". Time Out . 23 June 2005. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016.
  2. Cook, William (18 November 2004). "All in the worst possible taste". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  3. von Busack, Richard. "Rage boils over in Gary Oldman's 'Nil by Mouth'". metroactive.com, February, 1998. Retrieved 15 March 2014
  4. Trilling, 25
  5. Maconie, Stuart. "Pies and Prejudice: In search of the North". Random House, 2008. p. 23. ISBN   0-0919-3030-8

Bibliography