Editing Rhyming slang (section)

=== Mainstream usage ===
The use of rhyming slang has spread beyond the purely dialectal and some examples are to be found in the mainstream British English lexicon, although many users may be unaware of the origin of those words.<ref name="cockney-guide" />
* The expression "[[blowing a raspberry]]" comes from "raspberry tart" for "fart".<ref name="Cockney Rhymes"/>
* Another example is "berk", a mild pejorative widely used across the UK and not usually considered particularly offensive, although the origin lies in a contraction of "[[Berkshire Hunt]]", as the rhyme for the significantly more offensive "[[cunt]]".<ref>{{cite OED|berk|access-date=26 January 2017}}: "Origin: 1930s: abbreviation of Berkeley or Berkshire Hunt, rhyming slang for 'cunt'."</ref>
* Another example is to "have a butcher's" for to have a look, from "butcher's hook".<ref>{{cite OED|butcher|access-date=22 March 2017}}: "have (or take) a butcher's (informal) Have a look."</ref>

Most of the words changed by this process are nouns, but a few are adjectival, e.g., "bales" of cotton (rotten), or the adjectival phrase "on one's tod" for "on one's own", after [[Tod Sloan (jockey)|Tod Sloan]], a famous jockey.<ref name="Cockney Rhymes"/><ref>{{cite news |title=15 Irish sayings that everyone in America should use |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/funny-irish-sayings-2015-3 |work=Business Insider |first=Melia |last=Robinson |access-date=10 October 2018 |date=14 March 2015}}</ref>