The quality, state, or characteristics of being a cockney, particularly the cultural identity and mannerisms associated with East London working-class people.
Cockney (a person from East London) + -ship (a suffix meaning state or condition). The term 'cockney' originally meant a misshapen egg or spoiled child, later referring to Londoners born within earshot of Bow Bells.
Cockney speakers famously drop H sounds and rhyme their rhyming slang words ('apples and pears' for stairs), and cockneyship captures the whole cultural package—it's not just an accent, it's an identity tied to specific London neighborhoods and working-class traditions.
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