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When there were no safe spaces to be gay, Polari allowed gay men to identify and communicate with each other, and to keep things secret from outsiders.

Professor Paul Baker, author of the Polari dictionary and the upcoming book Fabulosa! The Story of Polari, Britain鈥檚 Secret Gay Language, explains how Polari emerged from criminal cant and London鈥檚 theatres and docks to be used a code language for gay men in the oppressive 1950s - and then, not long after, it entered the slang lexicons of the general public, via popular sketch comedy and the mouth of an annoyed princess.

Paul Baker is a professor of English language at Lancaster University. His book about Polari is Fabulosa! The Story of Polari, Britain鈥檚 Secret Gay Language.

This episode was produced by Helen Zaltzman. The music is by Martin Austwick.