What is a 'plaice'?


A man asks Lynda for a 'plaice and six'. What is that?



"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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It's a kind of fish.

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She's asking for "Fish and sixpence worth of chips"

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Thanks for the info, everyone!

Sometimes the English references in movies really flummox me!



"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

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So what is "flummox"? Kidding!

I wish I had subtitles to navigate the accents and references here, but such was not the case on my VHS. Would this be an example of Cockney accents?

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No, it's not an example of a Cockney accent in this case, though I can see why someone might think so if they're not from the U.K. It does kind of sound like some sort of rhyming slang but in this case it really is what it sounds. Plaice is the name of the fish so no mystery there and Six, as someone else has already pointed out, is sixpence. Plaice and sixpence worth of chips as opposed to Plaice and tuppence (two pence) worth of chips.

There are no Cockney accents in the film at all. Although Brighton and Worthing were/are popular holiday spots with Londoners there's no way that someone coming from either of those towns could be considered a Cockney.





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Thanks for the accent primer!

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Plaice is a flatfish... its usually served in fish and chip shops in Britain coated in batter or breadcrumbs and deep fried.

If you ask for "fish and chips" in a chip shop in Britain you will usually be served Cod (again deep fried in batter). Usually people will name the fish they want if they want something different from Cod. The usual menu is Cod, Haddock, Plaice, sometimes Rock or Hake, always deep fried in batter.

Plaice is mostly regarded as a bit of a 'posh' option, a bit upmarket from plain old Cod, mostly chosen by people who are a bit hoity toity.


This is what you'd get at a seaside fish and chip shop as opposed to a fish restaurant or seafood restaurant which will serve the usual restaurant fayre.


As far as accents are concerned, this is set and filmed in Brighton on the south coast - today a rather lively cosmopolitan town but in the 1950s it had a fairly working class atmosphere and so the accents are mostly southern working class... slightly London'ish but not quite.

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