etymology of "pony" and other dublin casino slang

robinlacey

anyone know where these expressions (pony for 25,monkey for 500,etc) come from?
are they just a dublin thing,or are they used elsewhere in ireland,or in any other countries?
and are there other animals used for different denominations?

ntlbell

robinlacey wrote:

anyone know where these expressions (pony for 25,monkey for 500,etc) come from?
are they just a dublin thing,or are they used elsewhere in ireland,or in any other countries?
and are there other animals used for different denominations?

I'm pretty sure pony/monkey is an english thing.

bops

cockney - alas they don't rhyme??

my fav is a duckie diver!!

i love to bust people you bet in ponies - (muppets)

Marq

Pony is 19th century british gambling slang.
I'm sure Reggie would have a better idea about why.

There was a monkey on the 500 rupee note in India in colonial times, and that could be where the expression "monkey" for 500 comes from.

ntlbell

Stephen Cheshire has provided the following: With reference to a 'monkey' for £500. I was once told that it came from soldiers returning from India where the 500 rupee note had a picture of a monkey on it. They used the term monkey for 500 rupees and on returning to England the saying was converted for sterling to mean £500.
This has been confirmed by Jason Beckett who also believes that the 25 rupee note had a picture of a pony on it.
Mathew Jackson confirms this.
Ian Crossley says: Pony comes from the time when five pound notes were white and the cost of horses or ponies and the wedding carriage and the main expenses was approx £25. People used to say "I'll pay for the pony in white", referring to the colour of the money and the wedding. Therefore five white fivers became a pony roughly the cost of a wedding.

bops

ntlbell wrote:

Stephen Cheshire has provided the following: With reference to a 'monkey' for £500. I was once told that it came from soldiers returning from India where the 500 rupee note had a picture of a monkey on it. They used the term monkey for 500 rupees and on returning to England the saying was converted for sterling to mean £500.
This has been confirmed by Jason Beckett who also believes that the 25 rupee note had a picture of a pony on it.
Mathew Jackson confirms this.
Ian Crossley says: Pony comes from the time when five pound notes were white and the cost of horses or ponies and the wedding carriage and the main expenses was approx £25. People used to say "I'll pay for the pony in white", referring to the colour of the money and the wedding. Therefore five white fivers became a pony roughly the cost of a wedding.

nerd

Hawk Eye

Its english rhyming slang like a grand is used for a 1,000.
If anyone uses pony/monkey at the table, I have them down as a fish.

fixer

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/money.htm

robinlacey

cheers for the responses,interesting stuff
i vaguely remember hearing some other denominations that had slang terms (other than ton for 100),anyone know any?

also surely a grand isn't rhyming slang?
i mean it doesn't really rhyme with thousand,unless you've had elecution lessons,which is unlikely to be a trait common to those who come up with slang

latenia

I always presumed this came about because the majority of dealers are from the UK and brought it with them.

Solksjaer

Hawk Eye wrote:

Its english rhyming slang like a grand is used for a 1,000.
If anyone uses pony/monkey at the table, I have them down as a fish.

Lol, how many creatures can you get into the one sentence. What though is a 'grand' rhyming slang for?

In ye olde days of bartering, the currency were much 'arder to discern.

Player 1. I raise you 2 hens and one Pig.
Player 2. What do you have left behind you
P 1. 6 Pigs and 10 hens (nervously)
P 2 I reraise you 5 goat and 1 goose plus all your hens and pigs
P.1 Eh, dealer, how much is that to me?
Dealer. 5 goat, 1 goose, 6 pigs and 10 Hens.
P1. FOLD
P2. Tips dealer 4 eggs. Thank you squire.
(Dealer..*bangs egg on table* (DOH)
PI Tilts and releases hound on on player 2.

ArmaniJeanss

robinlacey wrote:

i vaguely remember hearing some other denominations that had slang terms (other than ton for 100),anyone know any?

When I was growing up in InnerCity Dublin, others in use were 'SkyDiver' for a Fiver, and 'CockAndHen' for Ten.

GrangeUtd

a term for 50 is a 'bullseye'

and a 'hawaii' as in the tv show hawaii 50

also a 'hall door' slang for score (20)

a 'bag of sand' a grand (1000)

a 'bluey' 20 euro

PiperT

robinlacey wrote:

anyone know where these expressions (pony for 25,monkey for 500,etc) come from?
are they just a dublin thing,or are they used elsewhere in ireland,or in any other countries?
and are there other animals used for different denominations?

Pearl Diver = €5 (also SkyDiver)
Cock & Hen = €10 (I've also heard it being referred to as a Yul Brenner)
€20 is simply a "score"
Pony and Monkey are commonly used gambling expressions in both Ireland and UK.

jbravado

Ertn Senna(famous f1 driver) is sometimes used for a tenner.........

Trippie

jbravado wrote:

Ertn Senna(famous f1 driver) is sometimes used for a tenner.........

so famous you dont even know his name...:D

its ayrton

BigCityBanker

jbravado wrote:

(famous f1 driver)

really?

Lazare

Solksjaer wrote:

Lol, how many creatures can you get into the one sentence. What though is a 'grand' rhyming slang for?

In ye olde days of bartering, the currency were much 'arder to discern.

Player 1. I raise you 2 hens and one Pig.
Player 2. What do you have left behind you
P 1. 6 Pigs and 10 hens (nervously)
P 2 I reraise you 5 goat and 1 goose plus all your hens and pigs
P.1 Eh, dealer, how much is that to me?
Dealer. 5 goat, 1 goose, 6 pigs and 10 Hens.
P1. FOLD
P2. Tips dealer 4 eggs. Thank you squire.
(Dealer..*bangs egg on table* (DOH)PI Tilts and releases hound on on player 2.

LMFAO!!!

The_Chopper

Any of you guys know what a gorilla is?

DeVore

The_Chopper wrote:

Any of you guys know what a gorilla is?

A large endangered primate.

DeV.

Killme00

The_Chopper wrote:

Any of you guys know what a gorilla is?

its a large primate..dont call one a monkey, apparently they arent

Marq

Hawk Eye wrote:

If anyone uses pony/monkey at the table, I have them down as a fish.

That's pretty funny.

Solksjaer

The_Chopper wrote:

Any of you guys know what a gorilla is?

Is it an animal that carrys out urban attacks on state/regular forces, wearing a common isignia with an appetite for yellow bended fruit.

Killme00

Solksjaer wrote:

Is it an animal that carrys out urban attacks on state/regular forces, wearing a common isignia with an appetite for yellow bended fruit.

oh so thats what they mean by gorilla warfare

kpnuts

Killme00 wrote:

oh so thats what they mean by gorilla warfare

it ain't no fun when the rabbit's got the machete

Killme00

kpnuts wrote:

it ain't no fun when the rabbit's got the machete

it is when he is caught in the headlights!!

Hawk Eye

I was clearly mistaken that a grand was cockney slang, think 'bag of sand'=grand.
I must baffle some newbie with 'sorry bud ye wouldn't change up me monkey for 4 ton and 4 ponies' next time I'm moved table.

nicnicnic

Flem = €5

cock = €10

trum = €300

half = €50

not 100% on this one but think a rofe = €30

Mellor

The_Chopper wrote:

Any of you guys know what a gorilla is?

Is its €5000?
kinda like a monkey, only bigger.

Healio

nicnicnic wrote:

not 100% on this one but think a rofe = €30

are you thinking of ruof (four spelled backwards??) usually used by bookmakers.

nicnicnic

Healio wrote:

are you thinking of ruof (four spelled backwards??) usually used by bookmakers.

yep thats it, Amount ?

GrangeUtd

http://www.aldertons.com/money.htm

this has the lot on it!!!

Healio

nicnicnic wrote:

yep thats it, Amount ?

either means 4/1 as a price, or just four hundred/thousand whatever you bet in

Macspower

pony is a Dublin expression! They used to bet in Pyeballs and now that they have a "few bob".... they have turned into ponies...

john@thenewvic

Solksjaer wrote:

Lol, how many creatures can you get into the one sentence. What though is a 'grand' rhyming slang for?

In ye olde days of bartering, the currency were much 'arder to discern.

Player 1. I raise you 2 hens and one Pig.
Player 2. What do you have left behind you
P 1. 6 Pigs and 10 hens (nervously)
P 2 I reraise you 5 goat and 1 goose plus all your hens and pigs
P.1 Eh, dealer, how much is that to me?
Dealer. 5 goat, 1 goose, 6 pigs and 10 Hens.
P1. FOLD
P2. Tips dealer 4 eggs. Thank you squire.
(Dealer..*bangs egg on table* (DOH)
PI Tilts and releases hound on on player 2.

Thats brilliant. Still laughing.

In Limerick we call €200 a deuce. Didn't see it pop up anywhere else on the thread yet. Is it used in the big smoke?

bohsman

A deuce is used a bit, nobodys mentioned a small horse for a pony yet either.

Marq

An Ceapall Beag!

mdwexford

Shetland

spurious

Slightly OT, one theory for 'quid' is that it supposedly came from Irish navvies (and soldiers in the British forces) speaking of 'mo chuid airgead' - sounded like quid to them.

The_Chopper

Mellor wrote:

Is its €5000?
kinda like a monkey, only bigger.

Aparently a Gorilla is a monkey and a half - €750

robinlacey

lol,that's pretty good