[thechat] Money Slang

John Handelaar genghis at members.evolt.org
Sun Jun 3 07:39:09 CDT 2001


> -----Original Message-----
> From: thechat-admin at lists.evolt.org
> [mailto:thechat-admin at lists.evolt.org]On Behalf Of Martin
> Sent: 01 June 2001 19:20
> To: evolt
> Subject: Re: [thechat] Money Slang
> 
> A bob was a shilling - predecimalisation money,
> worth 5 new (postdecimalisation) pence, and
> 12 old pence.
> 
> Also in old money:
> Pound = 220 old pence
> Guinea = 240 old pence (20 shillings)

Nooooo.  A pound is 20 shillings (now as then).  240p.
(or 240d as it would have been - and before the merkins
ask, it stood for denarii, which was a Roman coin.)

A guinea is 21 shillings (and still used by the kind
of East End geezer personified by my Dad when pricing
sheepskin donkey jackets bought in pubs).

[Note to our American friends: you're comforted (maybe) 
by an ongoing resistance to metric measurements, but
until as recently as 1970 we didn't even have metric
money.  It was all in base 12, for some reason.  But
then, so is the clock.]

> In certain select parts of London, you will also
> get a pony (20 pounds), a monkey (50).

The same parts of London also use 'ton' for ?100 and
donated the term 'grand' (?1000) to the rest of the 
world.

> Amongst satirists, you could also get an Archer
> (1000 pounds, for the amount former Tory
> MP and alround bastard Jeffrey Archer allegedly
> paid a prostitute)

Two thousand.  And after the fucker goes to prison
next week, I think it may become safe to drop the
'allegedly'.

Arf.

JH
.sigless at home






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