Welcome to your first Polari lesson! In this course, you will learn a number of useful words and phrases in Polari, which will give you a greater understanding of the language. Firstly, we will start off with greetings.
Boyno
Hello
Boyno can be used in exactly the same manner you would use it in English. It can be used at any time of the day, and with anybody who would understand what it means.
Bona nochy
Good night
Bona nochy is used in the same way that ‘good night’ is used in English. It consists of two parts: ‘bona’ (which means ‘good’), and ‘nochy’ (which means ‘night’). Those who know Italian will know that this is very similar to ‘buona notte’, which means ‘good night’ in Italian.
Bona to vada your eek
Nice to meet you. Nice to see you.
‘Bona to vada your eek’ – which translates literally to ‘good to see your face’ – is possibly one of the most prolific phrases in Polari. It is used to say ‘nice to meet you’ or ‘nice to see you’ but, can also be used to say ‘hello’. Variations of it exist, including ‘bona to vada your dolly old eek’ and ‘bona to vada you’.
As you can see, there are no specific phrases for ‘goodbye’ and ‘good morning’.
If you would like to review Polari greetings, you can use the quiz below to test your knowledge of what has been taught above.
Next Lesson: Numbers
In this lesson, you will learn how to count from 1-100.
Boyno Polari 