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I laughed when I heard the BBC news article about the cash machine in Spitalfields asking if customers "want some moolah for your sky rocket ?". Customers gave the innovation a mixed reception, but it got me thinking about the money slang that has worked it's way into our language. Here a few commons ones to entertain you.

Squid - a pound (£1). The old joke is about a shark who meets his friend the whale and says, "I'm glad I bumped into you - here's that sick squid I owe you."

Pony - twenty five pounds (£25.00) or cockney rhyming slang as macaroni There were loads of suggestions for this one, could it have been the price of a pony or alternatively the pony may have been a reference to a Indian twenty -five rupee banknote that featured a pony.

Monkey- five hundred pounds (£500.00) Reference to 500 rupee bank note that has a monkey on it .

Wedge - nowadays 'a wedge' a pay-packet amount of money, apparently years ago, coins were actually cut into wedge-shaped pieces to create smaller money units.

Now you know the lingo you could have a monkey for Xmas, if you put a pony away each week from your wedge, and Bob's your uncle.

Karen
04/09/2009