General
vada the dolly eek
What does vada the dolly eek mean?
Classic Polari, the secret slang of mid-20th-century British gay men. Breaks down as vada (look at), dolly (pretty/nice), eek (face) — so 'look at the pretty face'. Often heard in the fuller greeting 'bona to vada your dolly old eek' ('lovely to see your pretty old face'), basically a campy 'hello, gorgeous'. Polari let gay men flirt and clock each other openly back when being gay was illegal in Britain.
"He walked in looking incredible and the whole bar went 'ooh, vada the dolly eek!'"
Origin
Polari, the British gay cant (roughly 1900s–1970s) drawn from Italian, Romani, rhyming slang and theatre cant; famed via the radio show Round the Horne.
Frequently asked questions
What does vada the dolly eek mean?
It's Polari for 'look at the pretty face' — vada means look, dolly means pretty, and eek means face.
Where does vada the dolly eek come from?
It's Polari, a secret slang used by gay men and theatre folk in mid-20th-century Britain.
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