“I like zhoosh,” says Professor Paul Baker on his favourite Polari word when we interviewed him for this feature. “It’s got an interesting pronunciation and starts with a consonant sound that rarely appears at the start of words in English (the “zhju” sound), although you do get it in languages like French, so it’s a word that sounds exotic to English ears. You have to place your mouth in a certain position to get the sound right, sort of pouting your lips and putting your top and bottom sets of teeth quite close together, so you make your face quite camp when you’re saying it.” Professor Baker knows what he’s talking about. Not only is Paul a professor of English Language at Lancaster University, he’s recognised as the world’s foremost expert on, is a must read if you want to discover more about the language.
