Russky Cockney [English translation]

Speaking our Russian Cockney1

Without a dictionary, you'll die like the Etruscans...

Your neighbourhood is "endz" or "bits",

Panel girls are called "skets",

And trust me, "food" is not only about meals, you'll not buy it in Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Like "lemon&cheese"2, an owner is "landlord", if you rent an "apartment",

Don't trust him: know that he's not your "fam" or "mate", and not all of your "mandem"3 are "bredren"...4

They wait for you here at nights, with "screwfaces" under the hoods,

Basically, there're those who are more obnoxious, those who are "on hype" and tear London to shreds,

You are probably a "badman"5

If you say "Wag1"6 instead of hi,

But you are a "wasteman" posing as a local and thinking:

I can't wait to go back to Brighton and Plymouth,

It's unlikely that England will accept you if you don't know that a "quid" is a pound, 1000 is a "grand", a gun is a "tool", a knife is a "shank", that's right, "innit"...

"Off ur face" or "wasted" means drunk as fuck and "tipsy" means drunk just a little,

The transport pass is called "oyster card", fuck knows why, "it's some next ting",

Cases in Cockney - to hell with them,

A chick here is a "jezzy", a "bird" or a "gash",

She might be "buff"7 or "butterz"8: fucking awesome, puffed-up, ugly and everything in between,

Oi! If something's from the street, it's "gully" and "gutter", know, that we caught you, aesthete, when you babbled about dubstep and two-step not knowing that the district is called a "council estate"9 – "nutter"10!

Screwed up? They'll tell you "fix up"!

"Nice one" means everything's fucking great,

To diss is to "par", to show respect they say "big up" and "safe"

And there's a red "rizla"11 for "zoots"12

And the message for every dubstep tourist:

You're on the island, "cuz"13, watch your back,

You may be a dangerous gangster in your neighbourhood,

But here, near Brixton and Plaistow, you're hipster!

Speaking our Russian Cockney

Without a dictionary, you'll die like the Etruscans...

1. Oxxximiron used to live in London. He explains some local slang words in the song. I put them and other English words used in the original in quotation marks.2. Some weed types have names like "lemon haze" or "blue cheese"3. Mandem - friends/acquaintances4. Bredren - brothers/best friends5. Badman - a gangster6. 'Wah gwan' means 'whats going on', taken from the carribean accent 'patois' and daily used as UK slang talk for hello, spelt as 'Wag1' on chat sites and MSN as it takes less time to type7. Buff means "good-looking"8. Butters means "ugly"9. Council estate - is an area of a city in which there are council houses and apartments10. Nutter is a crazy person.11. Rizla is a brand of rolling paper12. Zoot is another word for marihuana cannabis, a spliff weed or a joint13. Cuz - a buddy, a mate

• Artist:Oxxxymiron