Like the 'pony' meaning £25, it is suggested by some that the association derives from Indian rupee banknotes featuring the animal. Usage of bob for shilling dates back to the late 1700s. 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. The 'where there's much there's brass' expression helped maintain and spread the populairity iof the 'brass' money slang, rather than cause it. Origins. The coin was not formally demonetised until 31 August 1971 at the time of decimalisation. (Thanks Simon Ladd, Jun 2007), coppers = pre-decimal farthings, ha'pennies and pennies, and to a lesser extent 1p and 2p coins since decimalisation, and also meaning a very small amount of money. Coppers was very popular slang pre-decimalisation (1971), and is still used in referring to modern pennies and two-penny coins, typically describing the copper (coloured) coins in one's pocket or change, or piggy bank. biscuit = £100 or £1,000. The sixpenny piece used to be known long ago as a 'simon', possibly (ack L Bamford) through reference to the 17th century engraver at the Royal Mint, Thomas Simon. mill = a million dollars or a million pounds. simon = sixpence (6d). The silver threepence was effectively replaced with introduction of the brass-nickel threepenny bit in 1937, through to 1945, which was the last minting of the silver threepence coin. 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. In the late 1960s, the word “Jonesing” was invented to discuss the strong feeling of needing more heroin after taking one dose. (Thanks M Ty-Wharton). 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. Chipping-in also means to contributing towards or paying towards something, which again relates to the gambling chip use and metaphor, i.e. wonga = money. quarter = five shillings (5/-) from the 1800s, meaning a quarter of a pound. or What tip shall we leave?" sky/sky diver = five pounds (£5), 20th century cockney rhyming slang. All later generic versions of the coins were called 'Thalers'. 10 Republicans voted in the house against the president. 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. Half is also used as a logical prefix for many slang words which mean a pound, to form a slang expresion for ten shillings and more recently fifty pence (50p), for example and most popularly, 'half a nicker', 'half a quid', etc. Short for sovereigns - very old gold and the original one pound coins. Usage: “Me and my peeps are heading out tonight.” Bull: A word used in Philadelphia to describe a male friend, but it can also be used to refer to any male who’s name you do not know. bees (bees and honey) = money. Bung is also a verb, meaning to bribe someone by giving cash. 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). madza caroon = half-a-crown (2/6) from the mid 1800s. For example 'Lend us twenty sovs..' Sov is not generally used in the singular for one pound. plum = One hundred thousand pounds (£100,000). Cockney rhyming slang is one of the main reasons a lot of Brits either snigger or cringe at Sarah Palin’s use of Bristol as a name. Nancy Man says: March 7, 2013 at 3:59 pm Oh my god…as if there weren’t enough reasons to laugh at that woman. I am grateful to J Briggs for confirming (March 2008): "...I live in Penistone, South Yorks (what we call the West Riding) and it was certainly called a 'Brass Maggie' in my area. 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. The re-introduction of the groat thus enabled many customers to pay the exact fare, and so the cab drivers used the term Joey as a derisory reference for the fourpenny groats. In the 1960s, he rose to prominence in the role of bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part (1965–1975), created by Johnny Speight, which won him a Best TV Actor BAFTA in 1967. Backslang also contributes several slang money words. In parts of the US 'bob' was used for the US dollar coin. It would seem that the 'biscuit' slang term is still evolving and might mean different things (£100 or £1,000) to different people. Wow. : UK ([sb] from London's East End) (voz inglesa): cockney nm nombre masculino: Sustantivo de género exclusivamente masculino, que lleva los artículos el o un en singular, y los o unos en plural. pair of nickers/pair of knickers/pair o'nickers = two pounds (£2), an irresistible pun. Peeps: Slang for friends. Normally refers to notes and a reasonable amount of spending money. Folding green is more American than UK slang. squid = a pound (£1). dough = money. 'Bob a nob', in the early 1800s meant 'a shilling a head', when estimating costs of meals, etc. dollar = slang for money, commonly used in singular form, eg., 'Got any dollar?..'. Also expressed in cockney rhying slang as 'macaroni'. As referenced by Brewer in 1870. Cockney rhyming slang from 1960s and perhaps earlier since beehive has meant the number five in rhyming slang since at least the 1920s. 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. 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. flag = five pound note (£5), UK, notably in Manchester (ack Michael Hicks); also a USA one dollar bill; also used as a slang term for a money note in Australia although Cassells is vague about the value (if you know please contact us). Double click on any word for its definition. [1950s] apples and pears : Noun. Crafty Cockneys! Probably London slang from the early 1800s. Cassells implies an interesting possible combination of the meanings kibosh (18 month sentence), kibosh (meaning ruin or destroy) - both probably derived from Yiddish (Jewish European/Hebrew dialect) words meaning suppress - with the linking of money and hitting something, as in 'a fourpenny one' (from rhyming slang fourpenny bit = hit). Brewer says that the 'modern groat was introduced in 1835, and withdrawn in 1887'. Usually now meaning one pound coins. Logically 'half a ton' is slang for £50. Yes, cockney rhyming slang is a foreign language to most people, so I thought I'd let you in on the secret and help non-cockneys translate some of our favourite London sayings. The large Australian 'wonga' pigeon is almost certainly unrelated... yennep/yenep/yennap/yennop = a penny (1d particularly, although also means a decimal penny, 1p). 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. Why would you lie about something dumb like that?...". maggie/brass maggie = a pound coin (£1) - apparently used in South Yorkshire UK - the story is that the slang was adopted during the extremely acrimonious and prolonged miners' strike of 1984 which coincided with the introduction of the pound coin. The slang term 'silver' in relation to monetary value has changed through time, since silver coins used to be far more valuable. Interestingly mill is also a non-slang technical term for a tenth of a USA cent, or one-thousandth of a dollar, which is an accounts term only - there is no coinage for such an amount. From the late 20th century. Also meant to lend a shilling, apparently used by the middle classes, presumably to avoid embarrassment. Spruce probably mainly refers to spruce beer, made from the shoots of spruce fir trees which is made in alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties. gen = a shilling (1/-), from the mid 1800s, either based on the word argent, meaning silver (from French and Latin, and used in English heraldry, i.e., coats of arms and shields, to refer to the colour silver), or more likely a shortening of 'generalize', a peculiar supposed backslang of shilling, which in its own right was certainly slang for shilling, and strangely also the verb to lend a shilling. 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. Ah, the '60s. Hog also extended to US 10c and dollar coins, apparently, according to Cassells because coins carried a picture of a pig. Potentially confused with and supported by the origins and use of similar motsa (see motsa entry). April: Noun. wedge = nowadays 'a wedge' a pay-packet amount of money, although the expression is apparently from a very long time ago when coins were actually cut into wedge-shaped pieces to create smaller money units. From the Spanish gold coins of the same name. deep sea diver = fiver (£5), heard in use Oxfordshire (thanks Karen/Ewan) late 1990s, this is rhyming slang dating from the 1940s. In fact 'silver' coins are now made of cupro-nickel 75% copper, 25% nickel (the 20p being 84% and 16% for some reason). bees (bees and honey) = money. Brewer's dictionary of 1870 says that the American dollar is '..in English money a little more than four shillings..'. The modern form of farthing was first recorded in English around 1280 when it altered from ferthing to farthing. kick = sixpence (6d), from the early 1700s, derived purely from the lose rhyming with six (not cockney rhyming slang), extending to and possible preceded and prompted by the slang expression 'two and a kick' meaning half a crown, i.e., two shillings and sixpence, commonly expressed as 'two and six', which is a more understandable association. bice/byce = two shillings (2/-) or two pounds or twenty pounds - probably from the French bis, meaning twice, which suggests usage is older than the 1900s first recorded and referenced by dictionary sources. Sadly the word is almost obsolete now, although the groat coin is kept alive in Maundy Money. Back in this turbulent decade, you might expand upon the word "cool" with a word like "boss." In the US a ned was a ten dollar gold coin, and a half-ned was a five dollar coin. If you were President Truman would you have used the atomic map bomb in order to end WWII, why or why not explain ? sovs = pounds. Or any other popular British slang? Plural uses singular form. Chip was also slang for an Indian rupee. medza/medzer/medzes/medzies/metzes/midzers = money. It also gave us some of the best slang of the 20th century.Can you dig it? Cockney as a dialect is most notable for its argot, or coded language, which was born out of ingenious rhyming slang. shrapnel = loose change, especially a heavy and inconvenient pocketful, as when someone repays a small loan in lots of coins. Something that was wonderful would be "outta sight" (so great or unbelievable, you just couldn't take it all in.) Discover (and save!) Cockney rhyming slang from the late 1800s. It began in the East End of London during the middle of the 19th century. Originated in the USA in the 1920s, logically an association with the literal meaning - full or large. From the fact that a ton is a measurement of 100 cubic feet of capacity (for storage, loading, etc). Or any other popular British slang? The expression came into use with this meaning when wartime sensitivities subsided around 1960-70s. Equivalent to 12½p in decimal money. 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. Incidentally the Hovis bakery was founded in 1886 and the Hovis name derives from Latin, Hominis Vis, meaning 'strength of man'. brown = a half-penny or ha'penny. groat = an old silver four-penny coin from around 1300 and in use in similar form until c.1662, although Brewer states in his late 1800s revised edition of his 1870 dictionary of slang that 'the modern groat was introduced in 1835, and withdrawn in 1887', which is somewhat confusing. From the 1900s, simply from the word 'score' meaning twenty, derived apparently from the ancient practice of counting sheep in lots of twenty, and keeping tally by cutting ('scoring') notches into a stick. Origin is not known for sure. Nick Ratnieks suggests the tanner was named after a Master of the Mint of that name. 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. 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. Certain lingua franca blended with 'parlyaree' or 'polari', which is basically underworld slang. The older nuggets meaning of money obviously alludes to gold nuggets and appeared first in the 1800s. From cockney rhyming slang clodhopper (= copper). 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. deaner/dena/denar/dener = a shilling (1/-), from the mid-1800s, derived from association with the many European dinar coins and similar, and derived in turn and associated with the Roman denarius coin which formed the basis of many European currencies and their names. big ben - ten pounds (£10) the sum, and a ten pound note - cockney rhyming slang. What are the similarities between the Korean War and WW2 Pacific Theater? Does any one know of any Cockney slang that was used in the 40s and 50s? your own Pins on Pinterest 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. score = twenty pounds (£20). Initially suggested (Mar 2007) by a reader who tells me that the slang term 'biscuit', meaning £100, has been in use for several years, notably in the casino trade (thanks E). The ones that most people used? Tom Mix was a famous cowboy film star from 1910-1940. Yid. That means something is really, really cool. Principal Translations: Inglés: Español: Cockney, cockney n noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc. 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. See more ideas about slang, rhyming slang, british slang. Much more recently (thanks G Hudson) logically since the pound coin was introduced in the UK in the 1990s with the pound note's withdrawal, nugget seems to have appeared as a specific term for a pound coin, presumably because the pound coin is golden (actually more brassy than gold) and 'nuggety' in feel. We give you the top tips you'll need to speak genuine cockney like a proper Londoner! silver = silver coloured coins, typically a handful or piggy-bankful of different ones - i.e., a mixture of 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p. 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. half a crown = two shillings and sixpence (2/6), and more specifically the 2/6 coin. Available in lightweight cotton or premium all-over-printed options. The similar German and Austrian coin was the 'Groschen', equivalent to 10 'Pfennigs'. Origins of dib/dibs/dibbs are uncertain but probably relate to the old (early 1800s) children's game of dibs or dibstones played with the knuckle-bones of sheep or pebbles. smackers/smackeroos = pounds (or dollars) - in recent times not usually used in referring to a single £1 or a low amount, instead usually a hundred or several hundreds, but probably not several thousands, when grand would be preferred. I'm informed however (ack Stuart Taylor, Dec 2006) that Joey was indeed slang for the brass-nickel threepenny bit among children of the Worcester area in the period up to decimalisation in 1971, so as ever, slang is subject to regional variation. And like any other decade it had its own lingo and cultural slang. Less common variations on the same theme: wamba, wanga, or womba. Not used in the singular for in this sense, for example a five pound note would be called a 'jacks'. guinea = guinea is not a slang term, it's a proper and historical word for an amount of money equating to twenty-one shillings, or in modern sterling one pound five pence. Backslang essentially entails reversing the sound of the word, not the strict spelling, as you can see from the yennep example. strike = a sovereign (early 1700s) and later, a pound, based on the coin minting process which is called 'striking' a coin, so called because of the stamping process used in making coins. joey = much debate about this: According to my information (1894 Brewer, and the modern Cassell's, Oxford, Morton, and various other sources) Joey was originally, from 1835 or 1836 a silver fourpenny piece called a groat (Brewer is firm about this), and this meaning subsequently transferred to the silver threepenny piece (Cassell's, Oxford, and Morton). Chip and chipping also have more general associations with money and particularly money-related crime, where the derivations become blurred with other underworld meanings of chip relating to sex and women (perhaps from the French 'chipie' meaning a vivacious woman) and narcotics (in which chip refers to diluting or skimming from a consignment, as in chipping off a small piece - of the drug or the profit). The biblical text (from Acts chapter 10 verse 6) is: "He (Peter) lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side..", which was construed by jokers as banking transaction instead of a reference to overnight accommodation. Dosh appears to have originated in this form in the US in the 19th century, and then re-emerged in more popular use in the UK in the mid-20th century. Were there any ancient civilizations that we don’t know about? coal = a penny (1d). Modern London slang. It never really caught on and has died out now...". He got my goat, I almost shouted at him in the street. 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. Barbara Windsor was the Cockney queen of EastEnders but you're more likely to hear her famous accent in Essex now rather than London. lolly = money. More rarely from the early-mid 1900s fiver could also mean five thousand pounds, but arguably it remains today the most widely used slang term for five pounds. In fact the term was obsolete before 1971 decimalisation when the old ha'penny (½d) was removed from the currency in 1969. tickey/ticky/tickie/tiki/tikki/tikkie = ticky or tickey was an old pre-decimal British silver threepenny piece (3d, equating loosely to 1¼p). (Thanks R Maguire for prompting more detail for this one.). Cockney rhyming slang on 'score'. 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). 'K' has now mainly replaced 'G' in common speech and especially among middle and professional classes. Do you think Woodrow Wilson made the right decision to keep America out of world war 1 for as long as he did? A variation of sprat, see below. Welcome to my Complete Dictionary of Cockney Rhyming Slang! More popular in the 1960s than today. Like so much slang, kibosh trips off the tongue easily and amusingly, which would encourage the extension of its use from prison term to money. "Hank Marvin" is Cockney rhyming slang for "starving." Seymour created the classic 1973 Hovis TV advert featuring the baker's boy delivering bread from a bike on an old cobbled hill in a North England town, to the theme of Dvorak's New World symphony played by a brass band. 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 fünf. three ha'pence/three haypence = 1½d (one and a half old pennies) - this lovely expression (thanks Dean) did not survive decimalisation, despite there being new decimal half-pence coins. . commodore = fifteen pounds (£15). The world's biggest and most accurate dictionary of Cockney - plus the Cockney Blog, the Cockney Translator and much more! The actual setting was in fact Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset. net gen = ten shillings (10/-), backslang, see gen net. brass = money. Other variations occur, including the misunderstanding of these to be 'measures', which has become slang for money in its own right. It’s believed rhyming slang was initially intended as a coded language, utilised by groups such as thieves and market traders in order to mask conversations whenever strangers or law enforcers lurked nearby. The modern 75% copper 25% nickel composition was introduced in 1947. An English dialect that has always grabbed my attention is Cockney. farthing = a quarter of an old penny (¼d) - not slang, a proper word in use (in slightly different form - feorthung) since the end of the first millenium, and in this list mainly to clarify that the origin of the word is not from 'four things', supposedly and commonly believed from the times when coins were split to make pieces of smaller value, but actually (less excitingly) from Old English feortha, meaning fourth, corresponding to Old Frisian fiardeng, meaning a quarter of a mark, and similar Germanic words meaning four and fourth. and did slave labor replace the ability for lower class citizens to earn a living? Check out the full list of cockney rhyming slang phrases below Bottom, buttocks, 'arse'. Additionally (ack Martin Symington, Jun 2007) the word 'bob' is still commonly used among the white community of Tanzania in East Africa for the Tanzanian Shilling. From Old High German 'skilling'. Prior to 1971 bob was one of the most commonly used English slang words. I'm convinced these were the principal and most common usages of the Joey coin slang. 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. And be sure to … Once the issue of silver threepences in the United Kingdom had ceased there was a tendency for the coins to be hoarded and comparatively few were ever returned to the Royal Mint. Tom Mix initially meant the number six (and also fix, as in difficult situation or state of affairs), and extended later in the 1900s to mean six pounds. The expression is interpreted into Australian and New Zealand money slang as deener, again meaning shilling. sprat/spratt = sixpence (6d). Cockney - Translation to Spanish, pronunciation, and forum discussions. Originated in the 1800s from the backslang for penny. I am also informed (ack Sue Batch, Nov 2007) that spruce also referred to lemonade, which is perhaps another source of the bottle rhyming slang: "... around Northants, particularly the Rushden area, Spruce is in fact lemonade... it has died out nowadays - I was brought up in the 50s and 60s and it was an everyday word around my area back then. These pages are best viewed using the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, or IE. 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. Your thoughts? Costs of meals, etc loyal to the late 18th century 'bobstick ' was used up the! This meaning when wartime sensitivities subsided around 1960-70s ( £100,000 ) changes in composition! 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