Here's something I found while looking for references - hope some of you find it interesting.
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Re: British slang - amounts of cash
Posted by TheFallen on June 17, 2002 at 23:46:29:
In Reply to: Re: British slang - amounts of cash posted by Barney on June 17, 2002 at 14:23:04:
: : Related to the posts on slang terms for money below, there's some weird British slang terms for monetary amounts, usually related to the world of gambling. I have no idea why many of these originated, but ones I can recall are (with origins if I know them):-
: : Quid - 1 pound (Often argued about and featured in the archives. I plump for the "quid pro quo" origin).
: : Smacker and Nicker - Both meaning 1 pound (???).
: : Isaac - 1 pound (From the figure of Isaac Newton depicted on the now discontinued one pound note).
: : Bottle - 2 pounds (Rhyming slang from bottle of glue, I am assured).
: : Carpet - 3 pounds (no idea).
: : Lady Godiva - 5 pounds (Rhyming slang for fiver, and mentioned below).
: : Duke - Also 5 pounds ((From the figure of the Duke of Wellington depicted on the older style discontinued five pound note).
: : Ayrton Senna - 10 pounds (Rhyming slang for tenner, and mentioned below. There's an alternate piece of rhyming slang, I am next to certain, but have forgotten it).
: : Score - 20 pounds (Seems obvious).
: : Pony - 25 pounds (No clue).
: : Half a ton / A ton - 50 and 100 pounds respectively (No idea as to why).
: : Monkey - 500 pounds (huh?).
: : Grand - 1,000 pounds (Probably US, but why "grand"?).
: : Large One - 1,000 pounds (British version of the grand, maybe?).
: : Cecil B - 1,000 pounds but sometimes 1,000,000 pounds (Either way, from Cecil B. de Mille).
: : Can anyone help with the missing origins, or correct any errors?
: Some of these look genuine but others have a slightly bogus feel about them:
: I suspect the following aren't kosher:
: Large One - usually applied to a double measure of spirit in a pub
: Cecil B - didn't he make films, or is it movies?
:
: Duke - usually applied to John Wayne
: Carpet - usually applied to a badly fitted hair piece.
: Bottle - alcohol fired courage usually demonstrated after football matches.
: Isaac - When I was very very young I remember a rag and bone man in Stephney who had a tired old horse named Isaac. Other than that...
All the above terms were in relatively common usage in the pubs, bars and snooker clubs of South West London, where a small part of my youth was tempoarily misspent. I'm pretty sure that there's a London regionality to most of them.
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P.S. Possible?? Re. "Cecil B" - Mille is a thousand in Italian ref. "Mille Miglia" (famous 1000 mi. Italian road race).bh.
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