The term "bottle" for £200 (or historically £2) comes from Cockney rhyming slang, specifically "bottle of spruce" rhyming with "two pounds" or "deuce," referring to spruce beer, a common drink. While "bottle" generally means courage ("got the bottle") or failing courage ("bottled out"), in money slang, it's a quirky linguistic evolution from rhyming "deuce" (two) with the drink, eventually meaning a significant amount like £2 or £200.
£500 is called a "monkey" in British slang because British soldiers returning from colonial India brought the term back, referring to the 500 rupee note that featured a monkey on it, and they applied the name to the equivalent amount in pounds sterling. It's a related term to "pony" for £25, which also supposedly came from Indian currency.
In Cockney rhyming slang, "Bottle and Glass" means arse (buttocks), often shortened to just "bottle," leading to phrases like "lost his bottle" (lost his nerve) or "bottling it" (chickening out/giving up). Another related term is "Bottle and Stopper," which means a police officer (copper).
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.
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).
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Why is money called lolly?
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.
As we found out then 'Nick' has a wide variety of meanings based on cheating, snatching, and stealing. Maybe, a one pound coin was viewed as an item of currency worth nicking and became known as a nicker.
In the Uk, a fiver is 5 pounds - it is also referred to as a 'Deep sea diver' in Cockney rhyming slang A nine to five - is a standard job where you work between 9.
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.
'Nelson Eddy's' is Cockney rhyming slang for readies (pound notes), and 'big bag of sand' means a thousand pounds (a grand). Both of these phrases belong to the vernacular of Cockney rhyming slang, a code-like way of speaking that originated in East London in the mid-19th Century.
ayrton senna/ayrton = tenner (ten pounds, £10) - cockney rhyming slang created in the 1980s or early 90s, from the name of the peerless Brazilian world champion Formula One racing driver, Ayrton Senna (1960-94), who won world titles in 1988, 90 and 91, before his tragic death at San Marino in 1994.
The word cushty (meaning 'great, very good, pleasing') is usually associated with the Cockney dialect of the English language which originated in the East End of London. Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses. Check out Del Boy's Cockney sayings (Cushty from 4:04 to 4:41).
'Pants' – in American English this word means 👖 'trousers'; in British English, 'pants' are 🩲 underwear and you wear them under your trousers. 🤓 Here are some English 'pants' idioms for you!
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."
The value of one shilling equalling 12 pence (12 d) was set by the Normans following the conquest; before this various English coins equalling 4, 5, and 12 pence had all been known as shillings.
"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.
