Drum and Bass is cockney rhyming slang for Place
The word “drum” to describe a home came about long before the style of music drum and bass. It’s a great example of Reattachment – where a slang expression (not necessarily rhyming slang) gets reattached to a more modern phrase.
The word drum was originally used to describe a room or prison cell or even a road. It then became confined to only mean the home. Finally this was rhymed with Drum and Bass giving its modern interpretation.
Submitted by Danny.
First submitted on April 21, 2000.