A person born in East London, England, or the distinctive accent and dialect of this area.
From Middle English 'cockaigne,' possibly related to 'cock' (the bird) or a joke term for an imaginary land of luxury. It originally meant a spoiled child before applying to London's working-class dialect.
Cockney dialect preserves Old English pronunciation patterns that standard English lost—for example, dropping the 'h' sound at the start of words (like 'ay for 'have') mirrors how Old English speakers actually talked, making Cockney one of the oldest-sounding English dialects!
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