Literally, a person born within earshot of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church in what is now the City of London. However, technically speaking there can be no cockneys born after 1945 since the bells were destroyed by German bombs during WWII.

Today the term has expanded to encompass not only those from East London specifically but from London in general. The latter tends to be attributed by non-Londoners, stemming from their ignorance of the true meaning of the word.

person from london's east end.
rhyming slang used in london's east end

Person from the East End of London. Supposedly 'born with the sound of bow-bells'. When I used to live in Houghton Regis there were some next door, and they talked and acted nothing like the ones in Eastenders (most of whom are posh actors trying to sound working class). And let's be honest, a lot of TV producers are lovies and darlings who seem to think working class people (especially cockneys) are automatically criminals. Alright, I'm sure there are criminals in the East End. But thanks to a succession of useless, soft-head, corrupt UK governments, there are bloody villains everywhere you go in Britain. Counties around the south of England tend of be full of 'mockneys' - total arseholes who think putting on a fake cockney accent makes them sound hard (but don't tell their mummies).

Someone born within the sound of Bow Bells in London.

the best accent ever!

The dialect anyone speaks while performing fellatio.

The Hitcher from the Mighty Boosh Episode Eight, Season One called "the Hitcher " Episode Four, Season Two called "the Fountain of Youth" Episode Six of the second season called "the Nightmare of Milky Joe" as a coconut and in Season three in an episode called "Eels" where he sings the song about Eels. He also appears in the Mighty Boosh Live DVD from 2006.

The Hitcher is an old cockney man with long grey hair, green skin, a large polo mint over his left eye, a top hat and black and red clothing. He is evil, threatening to kill Howard and Vince whenever he meets them, and killing the whole cast in the stage show. His name is Baboo Yagu, but he is almost always referred to as The Hitcher. He is also a proponent of jazz fusion, especially proficient on the bass guitar.

The Hitcher has a confused history, he states in The Hitcher that as a child his parents were ashamed of his small thumb (prompting him to seek out the Hornet Shaman). However, in Eels he reveals that Elsie, proprietor of the Pie and Mash Shop, gave him free eels "on account of him being an orphan n' that"