If you’re new to the eleven-plus you might think the questions those fiendish examiners set are usually quite similar each year.

It only takes a little digging through the data, however, to realise that every year or so Professor Quantum, the question master extraordinaire, delights in inventing new ways to test and trial those ever-eager year six students who are trying to ace their school entrance tests.

Ever since the grammar school test as we know it came into being in 1944 under the Education Act it’s gone through some quite nifty iterations, usually to try to keep things ‘fair’ for all candidates (which invariably meant they’ve tried to keep one step ahead of us tutors).

If one compares a current test paper to that set in the 1950 (here’s a blog post I wrote which contains an example of one of those old papers) you’ll see that in some ways our papers could be considered somewhat EASIER!

But before you shout ‘Not So!’, if we consider some of the other types of questions children are now expected to deal with (Spatial Reasoning, anyone?) I think you’ll agree the kids of today have in fact got it quite hard.

Which leads me onto a recently introduced question format which can sometimes catch students out, Rhyming Synonyms.

What is a Rhyming Synonym Question?

The essence of these questions is this:

a) the question has three parts – we’re presented with a seed word, a sentence that’s missing one word and a selection of five words labelled A-E, one of which is the answer the examiner wants us to select.

b) we need to come up with a selection of words that rhyme with the seed word.

c) whilst developing that list of rhyming words we need to keep focused on the sentence to see which rhyming word will fill the gap best and thus make the sentence ‘work.’

d) once we’ve found a possible word, we must look through word options A-E to see if one is a synonym for that rhyming word and if one is you’ve found your answer {phew!}

The challenge (and there’s always a challenge with 11+ questions) is, usually all five answers ‘could’ fit, which stops crafty kids just guessing, so knowing how to work out that rhyming part is all very important.

Here’s an example:

Q: trickle ‘I bet Hanif won’t turn up tonight. He’s so _______________.’

A forgetful
B poorly
C unpredictable
D distracted
E busy

How do you tackle these questions?

On first reading that sentence it would appear that any of A-E ‘might’ be correct. The only answer accepted by the examiners, however, will be the one which follows the sequence of ‘define the rhyme, then spot the synonym‘.

Funnily enough, when I first saw these questions I realised that there will be one group of children who most probably have a distinct ADVANTAGE here, those who are well-versed in cockney rhyming slang.

For those who don’t know what is cockney rhyming slang, it’s a way of speaking where a rhyming word is substituted for the ‘correct’ word, such that only those ‘in the know’ understand what’s being said.

Various theories exist but the one that I prefer is it originated in the East End in the mid 19th Century and was used by dock workers, market traders and suchlike to confuse non-locals and the police.

Think of it as a way of keeping conversations more secret and to confuse others not ‘in the know’.

If you’ve never heard cockney rhyming slang being spoken here’s a simply wonderful sketch by Ronnie Barker from the 1970s when he gives a sermon from an east London church.

Can you imagine having Ronnie Barker or Ronnie Corbett as your child’s eleven-plus tutor?

I’m sure any English or Verbal Reasoning sessions would be wonderfully enjoyable if The Two Ronnies were tag-team tutoring.

Many of the pairings for cockney rhyming slang are quite obvious once understood, however, some do require a ‘butchers’ in order to understand them and a few will take more than a cursory glance to recognise.

As is the case with the English language not every word sits too well with children’s learning, so I’ve listed below forty or so of the more, ahem, appropriate ones, so that your little nipper can get to grips with this clever use of rhymes.

A quick lesson on Cockney Rhyming Slang

Here are some examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang.

• Adam and Eve = believe = as in ‘Would you Adam and Eve it?’
• Apples and pears = stairs
• Arthur Scargill = gargle = drink
• Ayrton Senna = tenner = ten-pound note
• Aunt Joanna = piano (pronounced ‘piana’)
• Bag of sand = A grand = £1,000
• Barney rubble = trouble
• Barnet Fair = Hair
• Bees and honey = money
• Bread and Honey = money
• Boat Race = face
• Boracic (boracic lint) = skint
• Brown bread = dead
• Butcher’s hook = look
• China plate = mate = as in ‘Me ole China’
• Daisy roots = boots
• Dog and bone = phone
• Duck and Dive = skive
• Gold watch = scotch whisky (to drink)
• Hampsteads = Hampstead Heath = teeth
• Jam-jar = Car
• Jack Jones = alone = as in ‘on my Jack’ means ‘on my own’
• Lady Godiva = fiver = five-pound note
• Loaf of bread = head, as in ‘use your loaf’
• Lionel Blairs = flares
• Little nipper = smallest boy/youngest member of a boat crew
• Mince pies = eyes
• Mutton = Mutt and… = Mutt and Jeff (cartoon characters) = deaf
• Pen and ink = stink
• Plates of meat = feet
• Porkies = pork pies = lies
• Rosie = Rosie Lee = cup of tea
• Scarper = Scapa Flow = go or to run away
• Sherbert dab = cab
• Skin and blister = sister
• Tea leaf = thief
• Toby Jugs = lugs = ears
• Tom-foolery = jewellery
• Tommy Trinder = Window (prounounced ‘winda’)
• Treacle = treacle tart = sweetheart
• Trouble and Strife = wife
• Two and eight = state (of upset)
• Vera Lynn = gin
• Whistle and flute = suit of clothes

Did you recognise how any of those words might have evolved?

Many have become part of everyday language but since they originated many decades ago the linking words may have been lost to history.

Many take their rhyming words from actors or performers of the day (Barney Rubble, Ruby Murray, Jack Jones) and others link back to historic events (Scapa Flow).

But what about THAT question?

Q: trickle ‘I bet Hanif won’t turn up tonight. He’s so _______________.’

A forgetful
B poorly
C unpredictable
D distracted
E busy

Let’s start by thinking of what words rhyme with trickle that might finish off the sentence correctly.

Here are a few options:

nickel
pickle
sickle
tickle
fickle
ickle
nicoll

Although all of the above fit as rhymes for trickle, only one has a synonym listed in A-E, fickle, which means the same as C unpredictable.

Over to you

Here are five rhyming synonyms to test you (or your child’s skills).

1 assassinated Ben was _______________ by his grandfather’s stories about the war.
A bored
B upset
C distracted
D tired
E intrigued

2 curtain ‘If you don’t lock the door, it is _______________ we will be burgled,’ said Li.
A unlikely
B avoidable
C inevitable
D inarguable
E unacceptable

3 pretend The mountaineers tried to _______________ to the summit but without success.
A vault
B scale
C demolish
D blow up
E access

4 spell Being more experienced my best friend, Jules, tried to _______________ my fears about the job interview.
A discuss
B allay
C investigate
D increase
E allure

5 ground Each prospective candidate made _______________ points.
A interesting
B unsubstantiated
C opposing
D valid
E lawful

How did you get on?

Rather like many of the other questions in the eleven-plus, Rhyming Synonyms do become easier with practice, so if this is a question set your child might be required to navigate, it’s best to start PDQ.

If you’d like to check your scores send me an email and I’d be happy to mark your answers for you.

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