noun General Slang

Tea Leaf

/ˈtiː liːf/ · noun · slang

Cockney for thief — 'tea leaf' rhymes with thief, used to call someone a 'tea leaf'.

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Definitions

1

Used as a sharp accusation of stealing.

“Who's been at the till? Some tea leaf, that's who.”
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2

By extension, a petty crook, pickpocket, or anyone light-fingered.

“He's a known tea leaf round these parts.”
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3

A thief. 'Tea leaf' rhymes with 'thief', and unusually the phrase is kept in full, since neither half alone would carry the sense.

“Watch your bag, this market's full of tea leaves.”
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Tea Leaf In A Sentence

Lock your motor up, there's tea leaves about.
He turned out to be a right tea leaf, nicked from his own nan.
The shop's plagued with tea leaves this time of year.

Origin & Usage

Twentieth-century East End rhyming slang on 'thief'; crime-and-policing rhymes are a rich seam in London argot, sitting alongside terms like 'Sweeney' in the tradition Hotten began documenting in 1859.

Variants tea-leafleaf
Tags #cockney#rhyming#british#uk#crime

People Also Ask

What does tea leaf mean in Cockney?

It means a thief. 'Tea leaf' rhymes with 'thief', and it's usually said in full.

Why isn't tea leaf shortened?

Most rhyming slang drops the rhyme, but 'tea' or 'leaf' alone wouldn't make sense, so the whole phrase survives.

Where did tea leaf come from?

From twentieth-century East End speech, part of the rich crime-and-policing strand of London rhyming slang.

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