New slang enough to make celebs Wallace and Gromit

Of all the trappings that go with fame, this must rank as one of the least welcome. Rhyming slang is increasingly peppered with references to famous folk, and has become enough of a social phenomena to warrant a new book.

For many in the spotlight their move into everyday conversation is a badge of honour and will almost certainly, in the case of Pete Tong (wrong) or Gianluca Vialli (charlie; cocaine), outlast their careers.

Others, such as Melvyn Bragg, who finds himself twinned with shag, and Belinda Carlisle, whose name is used to mean piles, may be more ambivalent.

According to a new Collins guide, Shame about the Boat Race, newer celebrities are simply replacing old, so Tony rather than Lionel Blair is increasingly used to refer to flares, and the footballer Billy Wright is superseded by soul singer Barry White as the link to "shite".

Much of the new rhyming slang is pretty coarse, revolving around drinking (Paul Weller/Stella; Winona Ryder/cider) and bodily functions (Wallace and Gromit/vomit).

At least it adds richness and intrigue to crude, everyday language. After all, it is more interesting to say: "I left my Clare Rayners [trainers] down the Fatboy Slim [gym] so I was late for the Basil Fawlty [balti]. The Andy McNab [cab] cost me an Ayrton Senna [tenner] but it didn't stop me getting the Britney Spears [beers] in. Next thing you know it turned into a Gary Player [all-dayer] and I was off my Chevy Chase [face]."