Lambeth Walk

English

Etymology

Originally the name of a comic Cockney sketch and song, c. 1901, and later popularised as a dance in the 1937 theatrical production Me and My Girl and 1939 movie The Lambeth Walk; punning on Lambeth Walk, a street in the London suburb of Lambeth.

Noun

Lambeth Walk (plural Lambeth Walks)

1. (preceded by definite article) A dance popular in the late 1930s in which the dancer imitates the exaggerated jaunty walk of a comic Cockney character of theatrical shows.
   • 1938 April 9, The West Australian, Perth, page 23, column 4:

     On her behalf he made a tour of Ireland introducing new dances, and was the first to demonstrate the Lambeth Walk, an adaptation of a dance from Lupino Lane's production "Me and My Girl."

   • 1938 October 26, The Daily News, Perth, page 11, column 5:

     The "Lambeth Walk" has become very popular in Kalgoorlie. When Rene Esler and Jerry McMorrow introduced it at a dance there, it proved a great success, and was repeated several times during the evening.

   • 1951 August 20, The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, page 12, column 2:

     Boy, you should have seen me doin', doin' the Lambeth Walk.