Polari Polari (also seen as 'Palare') is a gay slang language, which has now almost died out. It was more common in the 1960's when gays had more need of a private slang. When I started to research Polari, it was difficult to find any written material about Polari as what little used to exist was out of print. However, in the last few years, more and more people have been finding out about it, ...

Polari was once the cant of showmen and other itinerants, and later of theatre and circus folk, but moved in the twentieth century to being the semi-secret language of gays. Its possible origins, and some of its vocabulary, are described here.