noun General Slang

Joanna

/dʒəˈwɒnə/ · noun · slang

Cockney for a piano — 'Joanna' rhymes with the Cockney pronunciation 'pianna'.

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Definitions

1

Affectionately, any battered upright instrument, especially one in a boozer.

“That Joanna's three keys short but it still does the job.”
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2

By association, a knees-up or singalong centred on the pub piano.

“Saturday night it was all round the Joanna till closing.”
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3

A piano. 'Joanna' rhymes with 'pianna', the old Cockney pronunciation of 'piano', so the pub upright became a Joanna.

“Give us a tune on the old Joanna, Bert.”
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Joanna In A Sentence

Mum could hammer out a song on the Joanna all night.
They wheeled the Joanna into the back bar for the party.
Nan still plays the Joanna at every family do.

Origin & Usage

Late-Victorian East End rhyming slang resting on the Cockney pronunciation of 'piano' as 'pianna'; the pub piano was central to working-class London entertainment, and the term sits among the music-hall-era coinages following Hotten's 1859 record of London slang.

Variants the old Joanna
Tags #cockney#rhyming#british#uk#music

People Also Ask

What does Joanna mean in Cockney?

It means a piano. 'Joanna' rhymes with 'pianna', the Cockney way of saying 'piano'.

Why does the rhyme work?

It only rhymes if you say 'piano' the old London way — 'pianna' — which is exactly how Cockneys pronounced it.

Where would you hear Joanna used?

Around the pub, where the upright piano powered singalongs; it's a music-hall-era survival.

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