I Swear English › Vocabulary A–Z › Ruby Murray
What does ‘Ruby Murray’ mean?
Related forms: Cockney Rhyming Slang
Ruby Murray rhymes with curry. It has the indefinite article before it, so people say: a Ruby, to have a Ruby, for a Ruby.
“We are going down the Star of Bengal for a Ruby tonight”.
“They went on a pub crawl and then had a Ruby”.
“Ruby Murray was a Northern Irish singer and television star in the 1950s and 1960s./”.
Watch: ‘Ruby Murray’ explained
Video transcript
A Ruby Murray. R is for Ruby Murray. OK, this is Cockney rhyming slang, Ruby Murray, it's a name, Ruby and the surname Murray. Rhymes with curry. Curry, Indian food. So, last night we had a Ruby. A curry, Ruby Murray. Notice with this phrase in Cockney slang you must use only the first word, a Ruby. You can sometimes use the second, but normally they only use the first. So, do you fancy going for a Ruby? Do you want to go for a curry? That Ruby last night was really hot. OK. So there you go, a Ruby Murray. R is for Ruby Murray. A curry, very popular English dish. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in another video. Bye for now.
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