verb Street Slang

darby and joan

DAR-bee and JOHN · verb · informal

Moan (or 'alone'; also an old devoted couple).

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Definitions

1

Cockney rhyming slang for 'moan' (to complain), and separately a byword for a devoted old married couple.

“He does nothing but darby and joan about his knees.”
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2

A phrase for a contented, devoted elderly couple who have been together a long time.

“Fifty years married — a proper Darby and Joan, those two.”
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darby and joan In A Sentence

He does nothing but darby and joan about his knees.
Fifty years married — a proper Darby and Joan, those two.

Origin & Usage

'Joan' rhymes with 'moan'; Darby and Joan are the archetypal contented old couple of an 18th-century ballad.

Variants Darby & Joan
Tags #cockney#london#british#complaint#moan#urban-lingo

People Also Ask

What does 'darby and joan' mean?

In Cockney rhyming slang it means to moan or complain, because 'Joan' rhymes with 'moan'. Separately, 'a Darby and Joan' is a devoted old married couple.

Where does the phrase Darby and Joan come from?

Darby and Joan are the archetypal happy old couple from an 18th-century ballad, which is why 'Darby and Joan clubs' for the elderly took the name.

Does it mean to complain or a couple?

Both, depending on context. As a verb it means to moan; as a noun it describes an inseparable elderly couple.

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