Brass, where did it come from.

[groucho]

I was watching minder on the telly the other day and they kept going on about brasses(hookers). Is this cockney rhyming slang or something different?

Anybody know where it came from?

[Ferg]

Good old reliable Google directed me to a site that said:

'Brass' for hooker comes from cockney rhyming slang. Brass is short for a 'brass rubber' which rhymes with scrubber, another term for a prostitute.

[simpo two]

And 'Tom' for that matter.

[Ferg]

This time and with very little hesitation Google directed me to a site that said:

Some have claimed that "tom" meaning a prostitute derives from "Thomas More" equalling "whore".

[groucho]

simpo two said:

And 'Tom' for that matter.

Tom foolery. Jewellery.