5. Decimal 1p and 2p coins were also 97% copper (technically bronze - 97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin ) until replaced by copper-plated steel in 1992, which amusingly made them magnetic. A working knowledge of a few important slang words, phrases used in local dialects and colloquialisms will help your understanding of what's really going on in any conversation in the British Isles. It cannot cost a million dollars. Joey - 3d or threepence. long tails. Haggle - argue, debate the price of something. Essex girl - brash, materialistic young woman supposedly common in Essex and the Home Counties. Historically bob was slang for a British shilling (Twelve old pence, pre-decimalisation - and twenty shillings to a pound). We use K (from kilo) when we write with digits but we also say it when speaking, so that phonetically it would sound like kay. beehive = five pounds (5). Bronze (term to describe the one and two pound coins) 4. The word dollar is originally derived from German 'Thaler', and earlier from Low German 'dahler', meaning a valley (from which we also got the word 'dale'). Bampot - a foolish, unpleasant, or obnoxious person. Vibe - atmosphere, feeling. The term was coined by British soldiers returning from India where the 500 rupee note of that era had a picture of a monkey on it. Up until the late 20th Century, rhyming slang was also common in Australian slang, probably due to the . British slang & colloquialisms: see an A-Z listing of British slang, colloquialisms and dialect words and phrases including Cockney rhyming phrases. It's the best sound in the world to somethe cash register completing a sale. Chav - derogatory term for member of the "lower classes". The coin was not formally demonetised until 31 August 1971 at the time of decimalisation. 11. Slang continues to evolve with new words coming into use every year. Barmy. Veg-out - take it easy, relax, do nothing for a while. Queer the pitch- spoil the business in hand already discussed. Danno (Detective Danny Williams, played by James MacArthur) was McGarrett's unfailingly loyal junior partner. EXPLANATION: Although this London-centric slang is completely British, it is actually from India in the nineteenth century. bottle = two pounds, or earlier tuppence (2d), from the cockney rhyming slang: bottle of spruce = deuce (= two pounds or tuppence). In the US a nickel is more commonly a five cent coin. A more obscure British term, 'brass monkeys' is used to refer to extremely cold weather. Bice could also occur in conjunction with other shilling slang, where the word bice assumes the meaning 'two', as in 'a bice of deaners', pronounced 'bicerdeaners', and with other money slang, for example bice of tenners, pronounced 'bicertenners', meaning twenty pounds. Jib - to gain entry without paying usually to a football stadium. Old Indian rupee banknotes had animals on them and it is said that the 500 rupee note had a monkey on it and the 25 rupee featured a pony. Broke: we all know this one, when you're "skint" (British slang) or poor, you can consider yourself broke. This has confusing and convoluted origins, from as early as the late 1800s: It seems originally to have been a slang term for a three month prison sentence, based on the following: that 'carpet bag' was cockney rhyming slang for a 'drag', which was generally used to describe a three month sentence; also that in the prison workshops it supposedly took ninety days to produce a certain regulation-size piece of carpet; and there is also a belief that prisoners used to be awarded the luxury of a piece of carpet for their cell after three year's incarceration. Brewer's dictionary of 1870 says that the American dollar is '..in English money a little more than four shillings..'. We'd love to hear more of your great scouse words. Bullseye (fifty pounds sterling). The Jack Horner nursery rhyme is seemingly based on the story of Jack Horner, a steward to the Bishop of Glastonbury at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries (16th century), who was sent to Henry VIII with a bribe consisting of the deeds to twelve important properties in the area. Its uncountable, so wed say: For ex: My son just bought a new house for three hundred thousand grand. tray/trey = three pounds, and earlier threpence (thruppeny bit, 3d), ultimately from the Latin tres meaning three, and especially from the use of tray and trey for the number three in cards and dice games. spondulicks/spondoolicks = money. When the pound coin appeared it was immediately christened a 'Maggie', based seemingly on the notion that it was 'a brassy piece that thinks it's a sovereign" (ack J Jamieson, Sep 2007) If you have more detail about where and when this slang arose and is used, please let me know. Red Top - tabloid newspaper such as The Sun, The Mirror, The Daily Star. Spaced - to be or become confused, disoriented, or stupefied, often from drug use. According to Cassells chip meaning a shilling is from horse-racing and betting. Berties - term for Man City fans used by Man Utd supporters; the reverse is "rags". Money Slang Special Whats the meaning of Fiver, Tenner and Bluey in British Slang? Boodle normally referred to ill-gotten gains, such as counterfeit notes or the proceeds of a robbery, and also to a roll of banknotes, although in recent times the usage has extended to all sorts of money, usually in fairly large amounts. Bunts also used to refer to unwanted or unaccounted-for goods sold for a crafty gain by workers, and activity typically hidden from the business owner. Twat - vulgar slang for "vagina." a monkey bridge. generalise/generalize = a shilling (1/-), from the mid 1800s, thought to be backslang. (idiomatic, vulgar, slang) A piece of faeces. EXPLANATION: While this London-centric slang is entirely British, it actually stems from 19th Century India. The spelling cole was also used. He is just being a cheeky monkey. A group of monkeys huddled together. Budge - move, shift. grand = a thousand pounds (1,000 or $1,000) Not pluralised in full form. I personally feel (and think I recall) there was some transference of the Joey slang to the sixpence (tanner) some time after the silver threepenny coin changed to the brass threepenny bit (which was during the 1930-40s), and this would have been understandable because the silver sixpence was similar to the silver threepence, albeit slightly larger. Here are the most common and/or interesting British slang money words and expressions, with meanings, and origins where known. Porkies . 11. The 1973 advert's artistic director was Ridley Scott. Slang money words, meanings and origins, ' K' entry on the cliches and words origins page, 'dip dip sky blue who's it not you' (the word 'you' meant elimination for the corresponding child), 'ibble-obble black bobble ibble obble out' ('out' meant elimination). Sadly the word is almost obsolete now, although the groat coin is kept alive in Maundy Money. * /There is [] A Dictionary of American Idioms monkey Proper - done well; cf. By some it has been suggested that in the 18th century 25 was the typical price paid for a small horse, although historians have contested this is not accurate and far too much money. kibosh/kybosh = eighteen pence (i.e., one and six, 1/6, one shilling and sixpence), related to and perhaps derived from the mid-1900s meaning of kibosh for an eighteen month prison sentence. Even if you never actually get anywhere near the sound of Bow bells, it is handy pub quiz knowledge to have in your locker. Silver featured strongly in the earliest history of British money, so it's pleasing that the word still occurs in modern money slang. dibs/dibbs = money. Use In A Sentence: Wow, it is cold today! Probably from Romany gypsy 'wanga' meaning coal. half a crown = two shillings and sixpence (2/6), and more specifically the 2/6 coin. Off the cuff - without preparation, spontaneous. Cockney rhyming slang from the late 1800s. 04. fin/finn/finny/finnif/finnip/finnup/finnio/finnif = five pounds (5), from the early 1800s. gelt/gelter = money, from the late 1600s, with roots in foreign words for gold, notably German and Yiddish (Jewish European/Hebrew dialect) gelt, and Dutch and South African geld. saucepan = a pound, late 1800s, cockney rhyming slang: saucepan lid = quid. From the late 20th century. Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? Hog also extended to US 10c and dollar coins, apparently, according to Cassells because coins carried a picture of a pig. Wor lass - my girlfriend. Smackers (1920s) and smackeroos (1940s) are probably US extensions of the earlier English slang smack/smacks (1800s) meaning a pound note/notes, which Cassells slang dictionary suggests might be derived from the notion of smacking notes down onto a table. Alcohol and words relating to pubs and being drunk feature prominently in British slang. pair of nickers/pair of knickers/pair o'nickers = two pounds (2), an irresistible pun. Sign up for regular updates from ABC Education, Your information is being handled in accordance with the, Learn English: Idioms with the word 'hang'. dibs/dibbs = money. No other language in the world has been as bastardised as this one! What does Kermit mean? "The company fired its accountant because there was some monkey business going on with the accounts. oxford = five shillings (5/-), also called a crown, from cockney rhyming slang oxford scholar = dollar, dollar being slang for a crown. Backslang also contributes several slang money words. I'm not being funny - softening preface to a statement that could possibly be taken as offensive or malicious. Cockney Rhyming Slang. monkey in British English (mk ) noun 1. any of numerous long-tailed primates excluding the prosimians ( lemurs, tarsiers, etc): comprise the families Cercopithecidae ( Old World monkeys), Cebidae (New World monkeys), and Callithricidae ( marmosets ) See Old World monkey, New World monkey Related adjective: simian 2. any primate except man 3. Derived from the 500 Rupee banknote, which featured a monkey. Cockney rhyming slang, from 'poppy red' = bread, in turn from 'bread and honey' = money. 5. Popularity of this slang word was increased by comedian Harry Enfield. So although the fourpenny groat and the silver threepenny coin arguably lay the major claim to the Joey title, usage also seems to have extended to later coins, notably the silver sixpence (tanner) and the brass-nickel threepenny bit. Wank - masturbate, a wanker is an objectionable person. Caser was slang also for a US dollar coin, and the US/Autralian slang logically transferred to English, either or all because of the reference to silver coin, dollar slang for a crown, or the comparable value, as was. Backslang reverses the phonetic (sound of the) word, not the spelling, which can produce some strange interpretations, and was popular among market traders, butchers and greengrocers. ", "The children will get up to monkey business if we do not keep our eye on them.". BOODLE. Some of the London slang for money is based on animals thought to have originally appeared on ruppe banknotes. Brilliant Kettle-biler - unemployed man in Dundee (from the 19th century jute factories). 'To monkey around' means to behave in a silly or careless way. Kermit is a male given name found mainly in the United States. "That's a barmy idea". Example in written form: In my new job Ill be earning 75K a year. madza caroon = half-a-crown (2/6) from the mid 1800s. Origin unknown, although I received an interesting suggestion (thanks Giles Simmons, March 2007) of a possible connection with Jack Horner's plum in the nursery rhyme. For example: "What did you pay for that?" Presumably there were different versions and issues of the groat coin, which seems to have been present in the coinage from the 14th to the 19th centuries. The actual setting was in fact Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset. Referring to 500, this term is derived from the Indian 500 Rupee note of that era, which featured a monkey on one side. This section is in advanced English and is only intended to be a guide, not to "No more monkeying around! commodore = fifteen pounds (15). ", "Why do you want to make a monkey out of me? Brutal. The origins of boodle meaning money are (according to Cassells) probably from the Dutch word 'boedel' for personal effects or property (a person's worth) and/or from the old Scottish 'bodle' coin, worth two Scottish pence and one-sixth of an English penny, which logically would have been pre-decimalisation currency. The official Urban Dictionary API is used to show the hover-definitions. To monkey around means to behave in a silly or careless way. Stiver also earlier referred to any low value coin. I've spent all morning chundering it back out.". Monkey (London via India) London slang for 500. The word has been traced back from the late 18th century in London and has a vast range of suggestions for its etymology. Toodle pip - archaic, posh form for "goodbye". In fact 'silver' coins are now made of cupro-nickel 75% copper, 25% nickel (the 20p being 84% and 16% for some reason). Used to describe a stupid, nasty or useless person. Here are some of the most common expressions still alive in the UK: General Money Slang - Current Money Money - Bread, dough, spondoolicks, moolah, wedge, lolly One pound - Nicker, quid, squid, smacker Ten pounds - Tenner Five pounds - Fiver, bluey (because they are blue in colour) 25 pounds - Pony 50 pounds - Half a ton, bullseye The . Cockney Money Slang. Folding, folding stuff and folding money are all popular slang in London. Apparently we imported the word grand, which means a thousand, from the States. Meaning: London slang for 500. Space cadet - flaky, lightheaded, or forgetful person. The modern form of farthing was first recorded in English around 1280 when it altered from ferthing to farthing. foont/funt = a pound (1), from the mid-1900s, derived from the German word 'pfund' for the UK pound. Meaning: used to describe extremely cold or extremely hot weather. For example, 'You need to wear a coat today, it's brass monkeys outside.' 11. Notes: Money in general; reference to banknotes from a bank. Ankle Biter - Child. It is suggested by some that the pony slang for 25 derives from the typical price paid for a small horse, but in those times 25 would have been an unusually high price for a pony. ", "If he does not resign as chairman of the council after all the mess he has made, I'll be a monkey's uncle.". Litty again - exciting or wild once more. There are other spelling variations based on the same theme, all derived from the German and Yiddish (European/Hebrew mixture) funf, meaning five, more precisely spelled fnf. MORE : How many medals has Great Britain won at the Winter Olympics? "Gobsmacked" means to be utterly shocked or surprised beyond belief. Clod was also used for other old copper coins. Cockney rhyming slang is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London . Pinch Another word for stealing, or purchasing something at a heavily discounted rate. wad = money. Dont believe us?Watch this! bung = money in the form of a bribe, from the early English meaning of pocket and purse, and pick-pocket, according to Cassells derived from Frisian (North Netherlands) pung, meaning purse. 4. Spruce probably mainly refers to spruce beer, made from the shoots of spruce fir trees which is made in alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties. These, and the rhyming head connection, are not factual origins of how ned became a slang money term; they are merely suggestions of possible usage origin and/or reinforcement. As referenced by Brewer in 1870. daddler/dadla/dadler = threepenny bit (3d), and also earlier a farthing (quarter of an old penny, d), from the early 1900s, based on association with the word tiddler, meaning something very small. It's what is known as dehumanizing language, "language that deprives a person of human qualities or attributes.". I am grateful also (thanks Paul, Apr 2007) for a further suggestion that 'biscuit' means 1,000 in the casino trade, which apparently is due to the larger size of the 1,000 chip. While this London centric slang is entirely British, it actually stems from 19th century India. In fact arguably the modern term 'silver' equates in value to 'coppers' of a couple of generations ago. Then, build your vocabulary even more by mastering some Irish . For example, you might say a chair has a wonky leg. Like most languages, English has its fair share of slang terms related to a variety of topics and money is no exception. Many of its expressions have passed into common language, and the creation of new ones is no longer restricted to Cockneys. Popular Australian slang for money, now being adopted elsewhere. Bung - as a verb meaning to throw as a noun, or a bribe. Plural uses singular form, eg., 'Fifteen quid is all I want for it..', or 'I won five hundred quid on the horses yesterday..'. Lass - young woman (Scotland and northern England). putting chips into the centre of the table being necessary to continue playing. These indexes are then used to find usage correlations between slang terms. Roadman - someone well-acquainted with their local area. 2. Do A "do" is also a slang word for "party" in British English. Originated in the USA in the 1920s, logically an association with the literal meaning - full or large. See yennep. Seems to have surfaced first as caser in Australia in the mid-1800s from the Yiddish (Jewish European/Hebrew dialect) kesef meaning silver, where (in Australia) it also meant a five year prison term. Lost the plot - to become upset, angry, irrational. flim/flimsy = five pounds (5), early 1900s, so called because of the thin and flimsy paper on which five pound notes of the time were printed. denoting a small light structure or piece of equipment contrived to suit an immediate purpose. (Thanks Simon Ladd, June 2007). NEET - Not in Education, Employment, or Training. He had been visiting an area zoo when a monkey swung from its tree perch, swiped his glasses and hurled them into a . noun. Pissed - drunk (slang) in British English; "angry" in American English. A clodhopper is old slang for a farmer or bumpkin or lout, and was also a derogatory term used by the cavalry for infantry foot soldiers. 6. proper job (southwest England and Cornwall). job = guinea, late 1600s, probably ultimately derived from from the earlier meaning of the word job, a lump or piece (from 14th century English gobbe), which developed into the work-related meaning of job, and thereby came to have general meaning of payment for work, including specific meaning of a guinea. In this post we share the official and unofficial ways Brits refer to money. 'Monkey see, monkey do' refers to copying someones actions without putting much thought into it. From the fact that a ton is a measurement of 100 cubic feet of capacity (for storage, loading, etc). Some of these new international slang words are used in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and the UK (and even in non-English speaking countries). MONKEY. Brewer says that the 'modern groat was introduced in 1835, and withdrawn in 1887'. Have you ever overheard some rather strange terms for money? "You should watch the mens team play cricket. Modern London slang. Brassed off - annoyed and unhappy feeling. As the label suggests, speakers of MLE come from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and live in diverse neighbourhoods. Bairn - child (Scottish, northern English). Whey Aye Man - yes. Monkey Emoji is a very simple emoji usually used for its literal meaning when talking about wild and funny animals such as monkeys. Let us walk you through some of the most popular Spanish slang words and phrases throughout Latin America and Europe. From cockney rhyming slang clodhopper (= copper). Watering hole - this is one of the many British slang words for a pub. The word flag has been used since the 1500s as a slang expression for various types of money, and more recently for certain notes. french/french loaf = four pounds, most likely from the second half of the 1900s, cockney rhyming slang for rofe (french loaf = rofe), which is backslang for four, also meaning four pounds. From the 1800s, by association with the small fish. 5. If you want to read more about cockney rhyming slang and money, read this BBC article. Originally (16th-19thC) the slang word flag was used for an English fourpenny groat coin, derived possibly from Middle Low German word 'Vleger' meaning a coin worth 'more than a Bremer groat' (Cassells). A pony equals 25. Other slang terms: Fiver = 5, Lady Godiva (Cockney rhyming slang for a fiver) = 5, Tenner = 10, Pony = 25, Half a ton = 50, Ton = 100, Monkey = 500, Grand = 1000. For ex: Ill be back in a minute, Im just off to spend a penny! When pocket watches first became fashionable, they were held against the body by use of a small chain. bar = a pound, from the late 1800s, and earlier a sovereign, probably from Romany gypsy 'bauro' meaning heavy or big, and also influenced by allusion to the iron bars use as trading currency used with Africans, plus a possible reference to the custom of casting of precious metal in bars. Expand your U.K. slang vocabulary by learning some key British slang words and what they mean. deuce = two pounds, and much earlier (from the 1600s) tuppence (two old pence, 2d), from the French deus and Latin duos meaning two (which also give us the deuce term in tennis, meaning two points needed to win). Margaret Thatcher acted firmly and ruthlessly in resisting the efforts of the miners and the unions to save the pit jobs and the British coalmining industry, reinforcing her reputation for exercising the full powers of the state, creating resentment among many. The connection with coinage is that the Counts of Schlick in the late 1400s mined silver from 'Joachim's Thal' (Joachim's Valley), from which was minted the silver ounce coins called Joachim's Thalers, which became standard coinage in that region of what would now be Germany. Others have suggested that an Indian twenty-five rupee banknote featured a pony. What I mean is that this once mighty British Empire that more or less covered a quarter of the world's land surface could not ever have imagined that English would evolve to almost a million words - and almost every single one of them would be . Many are now obsolete; typically words which relate to pre-decimalisation coins, although some have re-emerged and continue to do so. bob = shilling (1/-), although in recent times now means a pound or a dollar in certain regions. I am also informed (thanks K Inglott, March 2007) that bob is now slang for a pound in his part of the world (Bath, South-West England), and has also been used as money slang, presumably for Australian dollars, on the Home and Away TV soap series. I'm convinced these were the principal and most common usages of the Joey coin slang. sovs = pounds. Were mad about English. 4. The most widely recognised Cockney rhyming slang terms for money include pony which is 25, a ton is 100 and a monkey, which equals 500. This is short for the word "beverages," usually alcoholic, most often beer. Monkey - This originated from the British slang for 500 pounds of sterling. Monkeys are primates. Mispronounced by some as 'sobs'. Manx - Gaelic-derived language of the Isle of Man. Another suggestion (Ack P Bessell) is that pony might derive from the Latin words 'legem pone', which (according to the etymology source emtymonline.com) means, ".. 'payment of money, cash down,' [which interpretation apparently first appeared in] 1573, from first two words [and also the subtitle] of the fifth division of Psalm cxix [Psalm 119, verses 33 to 48, from the Bible's Old Testament], which begins the psalms at Matins on the 25th of the month; consequently associated with March 25, a quarter day in the old financial calendar, when payments and debts came due." The words 'Legem pone' do not translate literally into monetary meaning, in the Psalm they words actully seem to equate to 'Teach me..' which is the corresponding phrase in the King James edition of the Bible. 'Half a job' was half a guinea. ton = commonly one hundred pounds (100). The word mill is derived simply from the Latin 'millisimus' meaning a thousandth, and is not anything to do with the milled edge of a coin. As in "We threw everything except the kitchen sink at the problem.". Now that youve got the slang down, youll want to work on your accent. The expression came into use with this meaning when wartime sensitivities subsided around 1960-70s. Skip - large steel box for rubbish from demolitions/building repairs. From the cockney rhyming slang and metaphoric use of 'bread'. From the 1960s, becoming widely used in the 1970s. Madza caroon is an example of 'ligua franca' slang which in this context means langauge used or influenced by foreigners or immigrants, like a sort of pidgin or hybrid English-foreign slang, in this case mixed with Italian, which logically implies that much of the early usage was in the English Italian communities. am gan to the toon - i'm going to Newcastle city centre. The study also found more than half of Brits regularly use slang words for money but seven in 10 admit to getting confused about some of the meanings. Whilst this is not cemented in fact, the widely held belief is that the terms came from soldiers returning to Britain from India. sir isaac = one pound (1) - used in Hampshire (Southern England) apparently originating from the time when the one pound note carried a picture of Sir Isaac Newton. Tony Benn (born 1925) served in the Wilson and Callaghan governments of the 1960s and 70s, and as an MP from 1950-2001, after which he remains (at time of writing this, Feb 2008) a hugely significant figure in socialist ideals and politics, and a very wise and impressive man. Says that the terms came from soldiers returning to Britain from India in the world to somethe cash completing. 04. fin/finn/finny/finnif/finnip/finnup/finnio/finnif = five pounds ( 5 ), although the groat coin is alive! 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