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This iconic cabaret hall is nothing short of legendary. Photo: The Royal Vauxhall Tavern/Facebook Tune into Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK or visit one of the city’s gay cabarets, and you’ll witness the remnants of old London’s underground LGBTQ legacy. Today Polari is a dead language, but elements of it continue to survive in drag culture and have even trickled into the mainstream. As it was no longer necessary to hide, many gays and lesbians began speaking publicly in plain English about their private lives. It was also spoken by lesbians and transsexuals, and it was actively used until 1967 - the year homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK. The language was campy and playful: Bona to vada your dolly old eek, a common Polari greeting, meant “Nice to see your pretty face.” Dish meant “ass,” and bona dish meant “nice ass.” Like Ye Olde Grindr, it was also used to identify oneself as queer and available. Since homosexual acts were a crime, Polari enabled gay men to talk safely in mixed company. The language was a mixture of words from cockney rhyming slang, Romani, and Italian, and was popularized by drag queens. Back when Great Britain was a far less tolerant place, LGBTQ people used a secret language called Polari to communicate with one another. But, little known to most, these terms come from the queer underground world of pre-1970s London. If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably heard of slang words like butch, camp, and queen.