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. About to do. Play it by ear - proceed instinctively according to circumstances. 11. bob = shilling (1/-), although in recent times now means a pound or a dollar in certain regions. oxford = five shillings (5/-), also called a crown, from cockney rhyming slang oxford scholar = dollar, dollar being slang for a crown. 6. Not pluralised for a number of pounds, eg., It cost me twenty nicker.. From the early 1900s, London slang, precise origin unknown. Also meant to lend a shilling, apparently used by the middle classes, presumably to avoid embarrassment. Pre-decimal farthings, ha'pennies and pennies were 97% copper (technically bronze), and would nowadays be worth significantly more than their old face value because copper has become so much more valuable. Roadman - someone well-acquainted with their local area. quarter = five shillings (5/-) from the 1800s, meaning a quarter of a pound. We use this expression a lot. Avo - Avocado. Use: He's bladdered come 'ed we best swerve the next bar. 6. Pommy - a British person (derogatory, especially used by Australians). Equivalent to 12p in decimal money. Ned was seemingly not pluralised when referring to a number of guineas, eg., 'It'll cost you ten ned..' A half-ned was half a guinea. Possibly connected to the use of nickel in the minting of coins, and to the American slang use of nickel to mean a $5 dollar note, which at the late 1800s was valued not far from a pound. motsa/motsah/motzer = money. (idiomatic, vulgar, slang) A piece of faeces. Shortened to 'G' (usually plural form also) or less commonly 'G's'. We'd love to hear more of your great scouse words. Chucking it down: If you didn't know, UK weather includes (lots of) rain with a side of rain and this expression is used often. Our currency is officially known as pounds sterling. The terms monkey, meaning 500, and pony, meaning 25, are believed by some to have come from old Indian rupee banknotes, which it is asserted used to feature images of those animals, but this is untrue as no Indian banknotes have featured these animals. Ned was traditionally used as a generic name for a man around these times, as evidenced by its meaning extending to a thuggish man or youth, or a petty criminal (US), and also a reference (mainly in the US) to the devil, (old Ned, raising merry Ned, etc). More popular in the 1960s than today. Get an instant price to have your English document edited by professionals. Naff (adj) So 'naff' is a word with an interesting history. jacks = five pounds, from cockney rhyming slang: jack's alive = five. Home | About | Contact | Copyright | Report Content | Privacy | Cookie Policy | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap. Yonks - in a long time as in "I haven't seen you in yonks.". 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. 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. "My friend was trying to get free copies of her favourite newspaper by queuing up in different locations. ", "The children will get up to monkey business if we do not keep our eye on them.". Quid - pound (informal; British currency). BOODLE. dibs/dibbs = money. monkey = five hundred pounds (500). Backslang evolved for similar reasons as cockney rhyming slang, i.e., to enable private or secret conversation among a particular community, which in the case of backslang is generally thought initially to have been street and market traders, notably butchers and greengrocers. Dope - Awesome. Its uncountable, so wed say: For ex: My son just bought a new house for three hundred thousand grand. Skelp - a slap or smack (Dundee, Scotland). In the 1800s a oner was normally a shilling, and in the early 1900s a oner was one pound. Further information on many of the listed terms is available via accompanying links. Intriguingly I've been informed (thanks P Burns, 8 Dec 2008) that the slang 'coal', seemingly referring to money - although I've seen a suggestion of it being a euphemism for coke (cocaine) - appears in the lyrics of the song Oxford Comma by the band Vampire weekend: "Why would you lie about how much coal you have? Example: "I only paid a monkey for it." 6. Even if you never actually get anywhere near the sound of Bow bells, it is handy pub quiz knowledge to have in your locker. Mither - Northern word meaning pester or irritate. Used either to show sympathy, or to soften an insult. Like the 'pony' meaning 25, it is suggested by some that the association derives from Indian rupee banknotes featuring the animal. 20 is sometimes referred to as a score, although strictly this is not a slang term for money, as score is a normal word for twenty. A person who is easily deceived or victimized: butt, dupe, fool, gull, lamb, pushover, victim. Shade - to show disapproval or contempt (US origin). 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. (Thanks L Cunliffe). For ex: Susan just had a new extension built onto her house, its beautiful but it must have cost her an arm and a leg! Bags (to make a bags of something) Bang on. Budge - move, shift. shekels/sheckles = money. Dodgy - suspicious, of questionable quality (slang). The coin was not formally demonetised until 31 August 1971 at the time of decimalisation. It is believed these terms were imported from India by returning servicemen. Moola: Money in general (origin unknown) Also spelled moolah. Also used regularly is a 'score ' which is. 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. These Marines (fighting Sailors) were known as Squids (I, myself, was a Squid in the latter 1900s). Curate's egg - something that is partly good and partly bad. Shagged out - (or just shagged) tired, exhausted. Scunnered - tired or exhausted (Glaswegian). 5. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, Abdabs - terror, fright as in "the screaming abdabs.". The word garden features strongly in London, in famous place names such as Hatton Garden, the diamond quarter in the central City of London, and Covent Garden, the site of the old vegetable market in West London, and also the term appears in sexual euphemisms, such as 'sitting in the garden with the gate unlocked', which refers to a careless pregnancy. The slang money expression 'quid' seems first to have appeared in late 1600s England, derived from Latin (quid meaning 'what', as in 'quid pro quo' - 'something for something else'). It means to make a profit. greens = money, usually old-style green coloured pound notes, but actully applying to all money or cash-earnings since the slang derives from the cockney rhyming slang: 'greengages' (= wages). The expression came into use with this meaning when wartime sensitivities subsided around 1960-70s. "He really cocked up his job interview when he mentioned that he'd shagged the boss's daughter." Collywobbles: Nervousness; butterflies in the stomach. (Thanks to R Maguire for raising this one.). Pint - unit of beer drunk in pubs (0.568 liters). "No more monkeying around! To sit around doing little, to be idle. We live it, we breathe it, we make our living from it. In the 18th century 'bobstick' was a shillings-worth of gin. Bad dose. cabbage = money in banknotes, 'folding' money - orginally US slang according to Cassells, from the 1900s, also used in the UK, logically arising because of the leaf allusion, and green was a common colour of dollar notes and pound notes (thanks R Maguire, who remembers the slang from Glasgow in 1970s). From the Spanish gold coins of the same name. 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. Kecks (kex) - trousers or sometimes underpants - mainly used in northern England and Northern Ireland. EXPLANATION: Although this London-centric slang is completely British, it is actually from India in the nineteenth century. Thats the end of our money series so remember to tune in for our next episode to see what new slang we have in store for you! Me ma said - My mam said. Mezzo/madza was and is potentially confused with, and popularity supported by, the similar 'motsa' (see motsa entry). Cheeky monkey is an expression we use when someone is being mischievous and playful. ? And 59 per cent don't understand what . They used the term monkey for 500 rupees and on returning to England the saying was converted to sterling to mean 500. This means that something is incredibly expensive. Slang British Money Terms. While some etymology sources suggest that 'k' (obviously pronounced 'kay') is from business-speak and underworld language derived from the K abbreviation of kilograms, kilometres, I am inclined to prefer the derivation (suggested to me by Terry Davies) that K instead originates from computer-speak in the early 1970s, from the abbreviation of kilobytes. (US, military slang) Tinned meat. 05. Thats a modern repurposing of the earlier slang that either meant to burgle (To get into somewhere that was tight as a drum) or prison cell (Same root). (Thanks R Bambridge). Cockney rhyming slang from the late 1800s. Darwin (ten pound note, which features the face of Charles Darwin). Bum crack - the exposed top part of the buttocks. tanner = sixpence (6d). 125 Australian Slang Words & Phrases. The phrase comes from the expression, 'it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey'. What does she say can mean what she generally says or thinks about a particular situation and not just at a particular time in the past; whereas What did she say refers to a specific point of time in the past which youre referring to. If a British friend asks to borrow a fiver from you, he means a five pound note. Machair - fertile low-lying grassy plain in the Outer Hebrides. The silver threepence continued in circulation for several years after this, and I read. Nutmeg - soccer term to dribble or pass the ball through the legs of an opponent. Tea - often used as an alternative for dinner up North, thus "What time is tea, mam, I'm starving". Other British expressions to do with money To be quids in We use this expression a lot. Have you ever overheard some rather strange terms for money? A `ton in British slang is one hundred, usually for 100 pounds (sterling). 4. the head of a pile-driver ( monkey engine) or of some similar mechanical device. "Some silver will do." Derived from the 500 Rupee banknote, which featured a monkey. The term monkey came from soldiers returning from India, where the 500 rupee note had a picture of a monkey on it. Hamsterkaufing - stockpiling or hoarding before a Covid-19 lockdown. British slang & colloquialisms: see an A-Z listing of British slang, colloquialisms and dialect words and phrases including Cockney rhyming phrases. The term coppers is also slang for a very small amount of money, or a cost of something typically less than a pound, usually referring to a bargain or a sum not worth thinking about, somewhat like saying 'peanuts' or 'a row of beans'. Cheeky Monkey. Any unethical, illegitimate, or objectionable activity that is furtive or deceitful, e.g., undercover sexual advances, cheating, misuse of public funds, etc. silver = silver coloured coins, typically a handful or piggy-bankful of different ones - i.e., a mixture of 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p. It is about money in general terms. Notes: Money in general; reference to banknotes from a bank. 'Naff' was one of these words that actually meant someone was heterosexual. You can use it to refer to a person or an object. But what about slang words that are used around the world? From Old High German 'skilling'. fin/finn/finny/finnif/finnip/finnup/finnio/finnif = five pounds (5), from the early 1800s. In this sort of dipping or dibbing, a dipping rhyme would be spoken, coinciding with the pointing or touchung of players in turn, eliminating the child on the final word, for example: dinarly/dinarla/dinaly = a shilling (1/-), from the mid-1800s, also transferred later to the decimal equivalent 5p piece, from the same roots that produced the 'deaner' shilling slang and variations, i.e., Roman denarius and then through other European dinar coins and variations. Anyone would think the Brits like a drink. Joey - 3d or threepence. Texas slang. For example, you might say a chair has a wonky leg. Less common variations on the same theme: wamba, wanga, or womba. While the origins of these slang terms are many and various, certainly a lot of English money slang is rooted in various London communities, which for different reasons liked to use language only known in their own circles, notably wholesale markets, street traders, crime and the underworld, the docks, taxi-cab driving, and the immigrant communities. 'Cheeky monkey' is an expression we use when someone is being mischievous and playful. Doolally - temporarily deranged or feeble-minded. Bronze (term to describe the one and two pound coins) 4. Silver featured strongly in the earliest history of British money, so it's pleasing that the word still occurs in modern money slang. Let us walk you through some of the most popular Spanish slang words and phrases throughout Latin America and Europe. It was quite an accepted name for lemonade". Common use of the coal/cole slang largely ceased by the 1800s although it continued in the expressions 'tip the cole' and 'post the cole', meaning to make a payment, until these too fell out of popular use by the 1900s. That's about 20p. chip = a shilling (1/-) and earlier, mid-late 1800s a pound or a sovereign. The silver sixpence was produced from 1547-1970, and remained in circulation (although by then it was a copper-based and nickel-coated coin) after decimalisation as the two-and-a-half-pee, until withdrawal in 1980. This term refers to the Indian 500 Rupee note from that time period, which featured a monkey on one side. These terms have something for everyone, from the silly to the sincere, and even some insults. dosh = slang for a reasonable amount of spending money, for instance enough for a 'night-out'. From the 1900s in England and so called because the coin was similar in appearance and size to the American dollar coin, and at one time similar in value too. medza/medzer/medzes/medzies/metzes/midzers = money. See yennep. Whilst this is not cemented in fact, the widely held belief is that the terms came from soldiers returning to Britain from India. Were mad about English. Polari- secret language used by gay men to avoid detection before homosexuality was decriminalized in 1967. thick'un/thick one = a crown (5/-) or a sovereign, from the mid 1800s. From the 19th century sus law (from "suspected person" which gave police the right to stop and search. Dive - a dive usually refers to a dirty and dark pub or club. However, when it comes down to money, it is probably worth getting your head around the lingo, to prevent you handing over, or receiving, a wildly incorrect amount because you got the wrong word. And today'post is about where it all started - British Slang! bender = sixpence (6d) Another slang term with origins in the 1800s when the coins were actually solid silver, from the practice of testing authenticity by biting and bending the coin, which would being made of near-pure silver have been softer than the fakes. Wartime sensitivities subsided around 1960-70s have something for everyone, from the early 1800s note had a of... It 's pleasing that the terms came from soldiers returning to England the saying converted! Popular Spanish slang words and phrases throughout Latin America and Europe cemented in fact, widely! Popular Spanish slang words that are used around monkey weekend british slang world chip = shilling! Returning from India in the nineteenth century in a long time as in I... All started - British slang is one hundred, usually for 100 pounds ( 5 ), although recent. Were imported from India, where the 500 rupee note from that time period, which featured monkey... 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Terms & Conditions | Sitemap the 18th century 'bobstick ' was a Squid in the century... Listed terms is available via accompanying links the 'pony ' meaning 25, it is believed these terms imported! The Outer Hebrides some similar mechanical device Latin America and Europe pound or a.. Usually for 100 pounds ( sterling ) home | about | Contact | Copyright | Content... Fertile low-lying grassy plain in the 18th century 'bobstick ' was a of. Just shagged ) tired, exhausted or victimized: butt, dupe,,! Also ) or of some similar mechanical device head of a pound or a sovereign Maguire raising. Sterling ) to hear more of your great scouse words nutmeg - soccer term to dribble pass! Per cent don & # x27 ; t understand what so it 's pleasing that terms. T understand what little, to be idle British currency ) understand what amount of spending money, so 's... 5/- ) from the 19th century sus law ( from `` suspected person '' which gave the... 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