Cockney words used for money.

I was born near London and often heard strange words being used for money. We moved away when I was young but then I started watching the British TV programme Minder in the early 80's and heard some of these strange words again. There were so many different words and it is only now years later that I can find what some of them mean.

Cockney rhyming slang uses a short phrase instead of the word, it isn't known why people started using it but one theory is that it was used by criminals to confuse the police. Here's an example, instead of saying someone was lying, you would say they were telling pork pies, as pork pies rhymes with lies. It then get shortened and you just say someone is telling porkies.

I especially like some of the words used for money. Here's a list of all the ones I have heard being used. Some of these rhyme but some are just words that have been used for various reasons.

Money is bread or dough. Money rhymes with bread and honey.

Dosh is another word used for money, usually meaning enough for a good night out or to buy something you want. Readies is another one, as in ready money. A wad is a large amount of money and wedge is a pay packet amount. Wonga and bunce are also words for money.

Sobs are pounds, thought to be a mispronunciation of sovs, short for sovereigns.

£1 is a nicker or quid or squid.

£5 is a Lady, because Lady Godiva rhymes with fiver.

£10 is a Speckeld Hen or an Ayrton, as in Ayrton Senna, rhyming with tenner or a Pavarotti (Tenor).

£20 is a score.

£25 is a pony or a macaroni. I have seen lots of possible reasons why but nobody knows for sure.

£3 or £30 or £300 is a carpet.

£100 is a ton

£500 is a monkey.

£1,000 is a grand or bag, as in bag of sand.

£2,000 is an archer, alleged to be the amount Jeffrey Archer paid as a bribe.

Having no money is borasic, as in borasic lint rhyming with skint.

A cheque is a gregory, as in Gregory Peck.

A bank is a J. Arthur as in J.Arthur Rank.

So if you hear a cockney is borasic and is going down the J. Arthur to get some dosh by cashing a gregory worth a pony, you now know what they are doing:)