Vada
Polari for to look at or to see — the verb of the discreet, knowing glance.
Definitions
Polari for to look, to see, to clock. One of the most famous words in the old gay British slang, kept alive by the phrase 'bona to vada your eek', good to see your face. If you've heard Julian and Sandy on the radio or anyone camping it up in vintage Polari, you've heard vada.
In Polari, to look at, see or check out, often with a flirtatious or appraising edge. Usually derived from Italian 'vedere' (to see) via Parlyaree, the older showmen's lingo.
Figuratively, to size someone up or read a situation discreetly, vital when discovery could mean arrest.
Used as an imperative to draw a friend's attention to someone or something worth noticing — a coded 'get a load of that'.
Vada In A Sentence
Origin & Usage
Polari/Parlyaree of 19th- and 20th-century travelling players and the gay subculture; 'vada' (also varda) derives from Italian 'vedere' / Lingua Franca, per Paul Baker's research on Polari.
People Also Ask
What does vada mean?
It is the Polari verb for looking or seeing, as in 'bona to vada you' — good to see you.
Where did vada come from?
It comes from Italian 'vedere' (to see) through Parlyaree, the showmen's slang that fed into Polari.
How is vada used in a sentence?
Often as a nudge, 'vada that one over there', or in greeting, 'bona to vada your dolly old eek'.
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