Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Cash machines have slang option

Aug 24, 2009
Cash machines have slang option

LONDON - WOULD you Adam and Eve it? Cash machines in east London are offering customers the option of using the local Cockney rhyming slang to get their hands on their sausage, so to speak.

Five automated teller machines (ATMs) in the East End are going Cockney for three months from Monday.

While cash machines with several language options are commonplace in some countries, the chance to use rhyming slang could leave those unfamiliar with the east London lingo in a right load of Barney Rubble.

Anyone opting for Cockney rhyming slang will be asked to enter their Huckleberry Finn (PIN) before chosing how much sausage and mash (cash) they want.

Those wanting to withdraw 10 pounds will have to ask for a speckled hen, while the machine may inform users that it is contacting their rattle and tank, rather than bank.

'We wanted to introduce something fun and of local interest to our London machines,' said Ron Delnevo, managing director of operators Bank Machine.

'Whilst we expect some residents will visit the machine to just have a butcher's (hook, look), most will be genuinely pleased as this is the first time a financial services provider will have recognised the Cockney language in such a manner.'

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The ATMs displaying prompts in Cockney are all free to use, though most of the group's cash machines charge a fee.

Better-known Cockney rhyming slang includes dog and bone (phone), apples and pears (stairs), whistle and flute (suit), Adam and Eve (believe), Barnet Fair (hair), trouble and strife (wife), loaf of bread (head) and boat race (face). -- AFP

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