Meaning

Khyber pass

The meaning of the phrase

Arse.

Pronunciation
Khyber pass

What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Khyber pass’?

Carry on Up the Khyber was filmed in Wales, using costumes borrowed from Zulu.

Cockney rhyming slang. Note that this is really ‘arse’ and not ‘ass’ - reflecting the Cockney pronunciation. In London and the south east of England ‘pass’ is pronounced as ‘parse’.

The term was used in the best of the Carry On series of films - Carry On Up The Khyber, 1986. Or, if not the best, certainly the one in which screenwriter Talbot Rothwell managed to squeeze in more bawdy puns than any other. It featured Sid James as Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond and Kenneth Williams as Rhandi Lal, the Khasi of Kalabar.

Examples of use

  • That was really insulting to my mother. When he bends over he's going to get a good kick up the khyber.

UsageMainly Britain. Note that the original pronunciation of 'pass' would have been 'parse', to rhyme with 'arse'. This reflects the 'long r' vocalisation of Cockneys. Current pronunciation depends on where you come from

From the Phrase Finder idioms collection, written by Gary Martin.

Cited as a source

Referenced by 1 trusted source for this phrase

Backlink data verified September 2026 via Ahrefs (live index). These sources cite Phrase Finder as a reference for the meaning and origin of this expression.