Where did the British expression "Move your harris" come from? I have
always assumed that it is Cockney Rhyming slang, but I can't think of
anything it rhymes with that would make sense.

Dear topfrog-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. The
term ?Harris? is a slang short for ?Harris Tweed?, the actual cockney
rhyming slang for the proper English term ?weed?. A ?weed?, used in
this context in proper English, is a person of little significance or
substance.

?Harris Tweed is London Cockney rhyming slang for a small, ineffectual man (weed).?
PROPBERT ENCYCLOPEDIA
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/ZH.HTM

HARRIS TWEED ON COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG .CO.UK
http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/search.asp?e=4533&keyword=Harris+Tweed&method=slang_id

In cockney slang of course the term ?Harris? is pronounced ?aris?
which does ironically sound a bit like ?arse?.

So the phrase: ?Move you Harris? (i.e., ?Move, you weed?) and ?Move
your Harris? (i.e., ?Move your arse?) would both be effective, yet
somewhat derogatory, if not provocative statements.

The ?Harris? and ?Tweed? words obviously appealed to the cockney
rhyming lexicon because of their similarity to ?arse? and ?weed?, as
you can see in this example:

?Move your Harris Tweed?
?Move your arse, weed?

But both the history of Harris Tweed and the reasoning goes on:

Harris Tweed, (Clo Mhor in the original Gaelic- 'The big cloth') was
once a fabric that was home-spun, hand-woven by the islanders in the
Outer Hebrides. Largely a rural, uneducated lot, the home based fabric
makers who industriously eked out a living making Harris Tweed in
those early days have apparently been adopted as into cockney slang as
examples of an unrefined cretin.

THE HARRIS TWEED AUTHORITY
http://www.harristweed.org/fabric_hist.htm

 

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

DEFINED ABOVE


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

HARRIS 

HARRIS TWEED

COCKNEY RHYMING SLANG

WEED

Wow! Thanks for the very full answer. I always thought it had
something to do with  "Harris Tweed", but I never made the connection
with weed - or arse for that matter!
Excellent research :-)

I speculate that "harris" is a sound-alike substitute for "arse."

I worked in the East End of London for several years as a Police
Officer and I?m afraid I must disagree with the sources quoted.
Pinkfreud has almost put her finger on the true reason.

The phrase is "shift your arris" (or aris). How do we get to this from
"Move your bottom"? It?s all to do with Cockney rhyming slang.

Arse is generally an English slang for bottom. Cockney rhyming slang
makes it: Bottle and Glass.  Bottle is Aristotle. This is shortened to
?Aris or ?Arris

Don?t ask me how it came to this  ? I suspect that is lost in the
mists of time! - and by the way, no cockney would ever pronounce his
letter H!

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/a.htm
http://www.businessballs.com/cockney.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A649

answerfinder-ga
Google Answers Researcher

answerfinder is correct!

Arris, short for Aristotle. Aristotle, Cockney ryming slang for
bottle. Bottle, short for bottle and glass. Bottle and glass, cockney
ryming slang for Arse! (Arse, equivelant to the American 'Ass' I
believe)

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner?

Thanks for the additional info! I was born and raised in Catford (SE
London), so I should have known ;-)