General
reeb
What does reeb mean?
Used loosely for ale or any cheap pub drink bought with the day's takings.
"He drank his whole day's yenom in reeb and went home skint."
Origin
Cockney costermonger back-slang of the 1840s, the simple reversal class of term recorded by Henry Mayhew (1851) and John Camden Hotten (1859), who listed dozens of such phonetic reversals used by London street folk.
Frequently asked questions
What does reeb mean?
It means beer. It's literally 'beer' spelled backwards, a staple of Cockney costermonger back-slang.
Where did reeb come from?
From the back-slang invented by London street sellers in the 1830s–40s, recorded by Mayhew and Hotten in the mid-19th century.
Is reeb still used today?
Rarely in earnest, but it survives among traders, in market nostalgia and in writing about Cockney heritage.
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