# A new thing I learned on a Brit PBS drama **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 23, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694 "2026-03-23T00:53:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/1 "2026-03-23T00:53:41Z")
Watching “Call the Midwife”. Guy says to one of the nuns “Who’d I be if I can’t share a cup o’rosy” Ok that is a cup of tea. How sweet. Love it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/2 "2026-03-23T00:59:43Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Guy says to one of the nuns “Who’d I be if I can’t share a cup o’rosy” > > Ok that is a cup of tea. I’d not heard that term before. It’s apparently Cockney rhyming slang: “Rosy” or “Rosie” is short for “Rosie Lee.” > **[Rosie Lee - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rosie_Lee)** ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/3 "2026-03-23T01:01:08Z")
Yep. Read that on Google. I never heard it either. But I like it ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/4 "2026-03-23T01:01:42Z")
I like the Red Rose tea brand. I thought it might be that. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/5 "2026-03-23T01:02:22Z")
I wondered that too. I knew that brand of Tea. My new/old favorite is Twinings Lady Grey. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/6 "2026-03-23T06:03:47Z")
Go look up “Touching Cloth”. It won’t be what you expect. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/7 "2026-03-23T06:06:55Z")
You crack me up. I would’ve never thought it meant _that!_ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/8 "2026-03-23T11:02:40Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It’s apparently Cockney rhyming slang: “Rosy” or “Rosie” is short for “Rosie Lee.” Ah! That would explain the line “Hellalujah, Rosie Lee” in the Kinks song “Have a Cuppa Tea.” ---
**Author:** ![Mongoose3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@Mongoose3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongoose3)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/9 "2026-03-23T11:09:06Z")
As a brit, not heard this before. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/10 "2026-03-23T11:31:31Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It’s apparently Cockney rhyming slang: “Rosy” or “Rosie” is short for “Rosie Lee.” God, rhyming slang just makes no sense at all. “I’ll say this thing that rhymes with this other thing, and then I’ll just drop the part that rhymes, don’t worry it’ll make backyard\*”. \*Backyard fence = perfect sense. See? Totally cromulent. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2026, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/11 "2026-03-23T11:34:16Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Backyard fence = perfect sense. See? Totally cromulent. I think he’s got it ! > [@Gatopescado](#): > > Go look up “Touching Cloth”. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VoACQCJWx10/hqdefault.jpg "Touching Cloth (HQ)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoACQCJWx10) ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2026, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-thing-i-learned-on-a-brit-pbs-drama/1028694/12 "2026-03-24T09:15:55Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > God, rhyming slang just makes no sense at all. In its defence, it is absolutely not meant to. It’s for communication with the in-group, not the out-group. Dropping the part that rhymes isn’t some foolish misstep, it’s the fundamental precept of the whole system. The in-group know the full rhyming phrase and what it rhymes with. Therefore they only need the first non-rhyming part to unlock the meaning. Outsiders don’t know the key information, so are locked out by design.