verb General Slang

Kool

/kuːl/ · verb · slang

Cockney back-slang for 'look' — a coded 'watch out' that later passed into Polari.

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Definitions

1

As an imperative or interjection, 'kool!' meaning 'watch it' or 'look lively' — a quick verbal nudge between traders.

“Kool! The esclop's turned the corner — cover the cart.”
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2

To look or watch; an alert. From 'look' reversed to 'kool'. On the street it doubled as a warning to look sharp — something worth seeing, or someone worth avoiding, was in view.

“Kool the toff by the stall, he's got a fat purse and slow eyes.”
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3

In Polari, the LGBTQ+ argot that borrowed heavily from back-slang, 'cod cull' and related 'kool' forms carried the same 'look/watch' sense within a community that needed to scan for danger.

“She gave me the kool across the bar, meaning trouble had walked in.”
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Kool In A Sentence

Have a kool at this, finest apples in the lane.
Kool him over there, dressed up like he's never worked a day.
Quiet now — kool, kool, someone's listening.

Origin & Usage

Cockney back-slang from the 1840s ('look' reversed), recorded in the Mayhew (1851) and Hotten (1859) tradition; the word also fed into Polari, the gay and theatrical argot documented by Paul Baker, which absorbed Cockney back-slang alongside Italian and Yiddish.

Variants coolkool in
Tags #cockney#back-slang#british#uk#polari

People Also Ask

What does kool mean in back-slang?

It means to look or watch, and as an exclamation 'watch out'. It's 'look' reversed.

Is kool the same as the American 'cool'?

No — this 'kool' is back-slang for 'look' and predates the 20th-century American 'cool' (excellent/relaxed) entirely; the spellings just coincide.

How did kool reach Polari?

Polari magpied vocabulary from many sources including Cockney back-slang; Paul Baker's research traces these overlaps between street, fairground and gay argot.

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