Cockney

A Cockney, in the loosest sense of the word, is a working-class inhabitant of the East End of London. But according to tradition, the strict definition is limited to those born within earshot (generally taken to be three miles) of the Bow bells, in other words the bells of St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside. However, the bells were silent from the outbreak of World War II until 1961. Also, of course, as the general din in London has increased, the area in which the bells can be heard has contracted. Formerly it included the City, Bethnal Green, Stepney, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Finsbury, and Hackney although according to the legend of Dick Whittington the bells could be heard as far away as from Highgate.

Drama and fiction

• Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (see also My Fair Lady)
• William Somerset Maugham's novel Liza of Lambeth
• Me and My Girl (musical)
• EastEnders soap opera
• Guy Ritchie films, especially Snatch (see also Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels)
• Eliza Pinchley in Family Guys spoof of My Fair Lady