In British slang, a "monkey" refers to the sum of £500 (five hundred pounds sterling). It is commonly used in, but not exclusive to, Cockney rhyming slang, particularly when discussing large amounts of cash.
MONKEY. Meaning: London slang for £500. Derived from the 500 Rupee banknote, which featured a monkey. EXPLANATION: While this London-centric slang is entirely British, it actually stems from 19th Century India.
The most common Cockney rhyming slang for £100 is "Ton," short for "Ton of bricks". Other terms include "Century," which is also used, and sometimes "Oner" (meaning one hundred) or "Long Un" (a long one) are heard, though "Ton" is the classic.
A "pony" is what they call 25, because the Indian 25-rupee note under the British Raj had a picture of a horse on it. A "monkey" means 500 for much the same reason - the colonial Indian 500-rupee note was decorated with a picture of a monkey.
The word was later extended to other instances of the number three. These seem originally to have been Australian and include a sum of three pounds, or odds of three to one, or car dealers' slang for a sum of three hundred pounds.
Lolly: This weird name for money was originally short for lollipop. It entered British slang as a term for money in the mid-20th century. But no matter where you're from, most everyone agrees money is sweet. Loot: “Loot” is one of the old words for money we still use today.
(British, informal, from Cockney rhyming slang, used especially in negative constructions) A word; a brief chat. We've not heard a dicky-bird about anything relating to his birthday. (British, informal) A small thing.
pony and trap (uncountable) (Cockney rhyming slang) Crap; rubbish, nonsense. (Cockney rhyming slang) Excrement; the act of defecation. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pony, trap.
nicker = a pound (£1). Not pluralised for a number of pounds, eg., 'It cost me twenty nicker..' From the early 1900s, London slang, precise origin unknown.
The term means watch, which stemmed from a 'fob' watch, which was a pocket watch attached to the body with a small chain. The kettle used to boil on the hob of a stove... hence the rhyme.
Hip-hop, that reliable slang generator, brought the use of cheddar meaning 'money' to our attention: 'Touch my cheddar, feel my Beretta,' said the Notorious B.I.G. in 1994.
Although it sounds a very modern term, wonga was first coined in the 18th and 19th centuries and is believed to be a corruption of the Romany word for coal, 'wongar'.
"Derby Kell" is old Cockney rhyming slang for belly ("Derby Kelly"). "Blow out your kite" means "fill your stomach". It uses the word kite (also kyte), a dialect word, originally derived from an Old English word for the womb which, by extension, came to mean the belly.
In British slang, £25 is called a "pony" primarily because British soldiers returning from India during the Raj era adopted the term from the Indian 25-rupee note, which featured a pony (horse) on it. This term became part of UK slang, alongside other Indian-influenced terms like "monkey" for £500 (from a 500-rupee note with a monkey).
Commodore (48 per cent) - The result of a complicated and clever bit of rhyming wordplay for £15. Cockney rhyming slang for a fiver is a 'Lady Godiva', and the group the Commodores are best-known for their song 'Three Times A Lady'. 5.
that's been in use there for more than 12 centuries and is the world's oldest currency today. The nickname "quid" is believed to stem from the Latin phrase “quid pro quo,” which translates to "something for something."
A slang name for a shilling was a "bob" (plural as singular, as in "that cost me two bob"). The first recorded use was in a case of coining heard at the Old Bailey in 1789, when it was described as cant, "well understood among a certain set of people", but heard only among criminals and their associates.
