British Money Slang Explained: Pony, Monkey, Ton, Quid And More
A pony is £25, a monkey £500 and a score £20. Where British money slang comes from, plus Cockney rhymes, old coins and the language of the betting ring.
A pony is £25, a monkey is £500, a score is £20 and a ton is £100. These are some of the best-known terms in British money slang, although not all are heard as regularly as they once were.
Some expressions, such as quid, fiver and tenner, are part of everyday British English. Others have survived through horse racing, the betting ring and London’s Cockney rhyming slang. You might hear someone talk about putting a pony on a horse, spending a monkey on a second-hand car or earning 30 grand a year.
The important thing is knowing exactly how much each term means.
And while a modern bookmaker such as bet365 displays stakes and odds numerically, several of these expressions also have separate meanings in traditional racecourse betting.
Here’s what the best-known British money slang terms mean, where they come from and how they’re used in betting.
British Slang for Money: Complete List and Values
The table below covers the most recognisable British slang terms for specific amounts of money, from a single quid to a grand.
| Money slang | Amount | Meaning or origin |
|---|---|---|
| Quid | £1 | The most familiar British slang for a pound |
| Nicker | £1 | Older London slang for one pound |
| Fiver | £5 | Common term for five pounds |
| Lady Godiva | £5 | Cockney rhyming slang for fiver |
| Deep-sea diver | £5 | Another rhyme for fiver |
| Tenner | £10 | Everyday term for ten pounds |
| Cockle | £10 | From the Cockney rhyme “cock and hen” |
| Ayrton Senna | £10 | Rhyming slang for tenner |
| Score | £20 | An established English word meaning twenty |
| Bobby Moore | £20 | Rhyming slang for score |
| Pony | £25 | Traditional slang with links to gambling |
| Macaroni | £25 | Rhyming slang for pony |
| Half a ton | £50 | Half of £100 |
| Bullseye | £50 | Associated with the 50-point inner bull in darts |
| Ton | £100 | British slang for a hundred |
| Century | £100 | Another expression for a hundred |
| Monkey | £500 | Traditional British slang for five hundred pounds |
| Grand | £1,000 | Common expression for a thousand pounds |
| K | £1,000 | Written shorthand for a thousand |
| Bag of sand | £1,000 | Cockney rhyming slang for grand |
Not every term is in everyday use. Quid, fiver, tenner and grand remain widely understood. Pony, monkey and ton are familiar to many British speakers, particularly in betting and trading contexts. Expressions such as macaroni, Lady Godiva and Bobby Moore are more traditional or regional.
The values are also distinct from historical betting odds. For instance, a pony is £25 in money slang but can mean 25/1 when describing a racecourse price.
What Is a Pony in Money Slang UK?
A pony means £25 in British slang.
It is particularly associated with gambling and horse racing, where the expression has been used for generations.
If someone says, “I’ve had a pony on that horse,” they’re describing a £25 stake. The same expression might be used outside betting when discussing the cost of something, although it is less common in everyday speech than quid or tenner.
A pony is therefore worth:
- £25 in cash.
- Five fivers.
- Two and a half tenners.
- One quarter of a ton (£100).
Why Is £25 Called a Pony?
Nobody has established a definitive origin.
The term dates back to the late eighteenth century, according to Michael Quinion’s research in World Wide Words. It was already associated with the gambling world long before modern betting shops existed.
One popular explanation claims that British soldiers returning from India brought the expression home because an Indian 25-rupee banknote featured a pony. There is a problem with that story: no convincing historical evidence has established the existence of such a note or demonstrated that it gave rise to the expression.
The Indian banknote explanation is best treated as folklore rather than documented etymology.
A more useful historical fact is that pony and monkey were already established terms among British gamblers in the nineteenth century. The precise reason they acquired their animal names remains uncertain.
Is Pony Cockney Rhyming Slang?
Not originally. Pony does not rhyme with twenty-five. The expression predates the rhyming slang later built around it.
However, macaroni became a Cockney rhyme for pony and therefore also means £25.
This is an important distinction. Much of what gets labelled Cockney money slang is actually older British slang that Cockney speakers subsequently adapted.
How Much Is a Monkey in British Money Slang?
A monkey is £500, making it one of the largest traditional British money-slang denominations.
Two monkeys equal £1,000, or one grand.
The term has strong historical associations with gambling and the racecourse, although it has also appeared in other settings where people discuss substantial sums of cash.
Why Is £500 Called a Monkey?
Like pony, the origin of monkey is uncertain.
The Oxford English Dictionary records its £500 meaning as early as 1827. That early reference is particularly useful because it mentions both a pony and a monkey in the language of gentlemen’s gambling clubs.
The familiar story about a monkey appearing on an Indian 500-rupee note is no better established than the corresponding explanation for pony.
It may be memorable, but there is insufficient historical evidence to present it as the origin.
The reliable facts are that monkey means £500, was documented by 1827 and was already associated with gambling. Anything more specific about its etymology should be treated cautiously.
Score, Ton, Grand and Other Common British Money Terms
Not all money slang has mysterious origins. Several familiar expressions have straightforward numerical meanings, and some were in use long before they became associated with cash.
What Is a Score in Money?
A score is £20.
The word score has meant twenty for centuries. The expression appears in older English counting systems and literature, including the familiar phrase “four score and seven”.
Its history is linked to tallying quantities by cutting or marking notches. Counting in groups of twenty was useful when keeping records, and the numerical meaning eventually became associated with money.
Score is less common in ordinary conversation than tenner or quid, but it remains readily understandable.
In Cockney rhyming slang, a score can also be called a Bobby Moore, after England’s 1966 World Cup-winning captain.
What Is a Ton in Money?
A ton is £100.
The expression fits an established British habit of using ton to describe a hundred.
A cricket batter who scores 100 runs has made a ton. A motorcyclist travelling at 100mph might be said to be “doing the ton”. In darts, a ton is a score of 100 points.
In money slang, the same numerical meaning applies. Half a ton is therefore £50, while two tons would be £200.
The precise linguistic development is less certain than the numerical meaning. Quinion notes a possible connection with historical measurements of volume, but that explanation is not conclusively established.
What Does Grand Mean in British Money?
A grand is £1,000.
Unlike pony and monkey, grand came into British usage from American English, where it had become established as slang for a thousand dollars.
The term is now widely used across Britain. A car costing five grand is £5,000. Someone earning 40 grand a year has an annual salary of £40,000.
The abbreviation K serves the same numerical purpose, although it comes from the metric prefix kilo, meaning thousand, rather than from the word grand.
So 10K, ten grand and £10,000 all describe the same amount. Cockney rhyming slang adds another variation: a bag of sand, rhyming with grand and frequently shortened to “a bag”.
Why Do British People Say Quid?
Quid is the familiar British slang term for £1.
It is used with both singular and plural amounts. Someone might pay one quid, five quid or fifty quid, but normally wouldn’t say “fifty quids”.
The origin is uncertain. A commonly suggested connection is the Latin expression quid pro quo, but this has not been established as the definitive explanation.
Unlike pony and monkey, quid is firmly embedded in everyday speech. It requires little explanation for most British readers.
Dosh, Wonga, Bread and Other Slang for Money
Some British slang words describe money generally rather than a specific amount.
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Dosh | Money in general |
| Wonga | Money or cash |
| Dough | Money |
| Bread | Money |
| Lolly | Money |
| Readies | Cash immediately available to spend |
| Brass | Money, particularly in northern English usage |
| Skint | Having little or no money |
| Loaded | Having plenty of money |
| Brassic | Broke or without money |
These expressions are not interchangeable with the fixed amounts in the earlier table.
Someone who says they’re skint isn’t necessarily claiming to have exactly £0. Likewise, a person asking for some dosh hasn’t specified how much they want.
Bread also has a Cockney rhyming-slang connection through bread and honey, which rhymes with money.
These broader expressions help explain why British slang for cash is so varied. Some terms describe the amount, others describe the form of payment, and still others describe whether somebody has any money at all.
Cockney Rhyming Slang for Money
Cockney rhyming slang developed in London, particularly in the East End, and became known for replacing ordinary words with expressions that rhyme.
The process can involve two stages. First, a phrase replaces the original word. Then the rhyming part is dropped.
For example, apples and pears means stairs, but somebody using the expression might simply say “apples”.
Money slang works in much the same way.
| Cockney expression | Rhymes with | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Lady Godiva | Fiver | £5 |
| Deep-sea diver | Fiver | £5 |
| Cock and hen | Ten | £10 |
| Ayrton Senna | Tenner | £10 |
| Bobby Moore | Score | £20 |
| Macaroni | Pony | £25 |
| Bag of sand | Grand | £1,000 |
The use of well-known names is especially characteristic.
Lady Godiva provides a rhyme for fiver, Bobby Moore for score, and Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna for tenner.
It also explains why shortened versions such as Lady, Ayrton and bag can be confusing to anyone unfamiliar with the original expressions.
Is Pony or Monkey Actually Cockney Rhyming Slang?
Neither began as a rhyming expression.
Pony, monkey, ton and score are commonly included in lists of Cockney slang because they were historically used in London. However, that does not make them examples of rhyming slang.
Macaroni and Bobby Moore are genuine rhymes based on existing expressions. Monkey has no widely established rhyming equivalent of comparable recognition.
That distinction matters when considering the history of these terms. Cockney rhyming slang is only one part of the wider British vocabulary for money.
Old British Money Slang: Bob, Tanner and Half-Crown
British money was once much more complicated than today’s pounds and pence.
Before decimalisation on 15 February 1971, there were 20 shillings in a pound and 12 old pennies in a shilling. That meant one pound contained 240 old pennies.
The system produced its own collection of nicknames, many of which are unfamiliar to younger generations.
| Old money slang | Historical value | Decimal equivalent by value |
|---|---|---|
| Bob | One shilling | 5p |
| Two bob | Two shillings | 10p |
| Tanner | Six old pence | 2.5p |
| Florin | Two shillings | 10p |
| Half-crown | Two shillings and sixpence | 12.5p |
| Ten bob | Ten shillings | 50p |
| Oncer | One-pound note | £1 |
The decimal equivalents represent the proportions of a pound, not what the old coins would buy at today’s prices.
A shilling was worth one-twentieth of a pound, while a sixpence was one-fortieth.
The Bank of England provides a useful old-money conversion tool for readers interested in the original system.
What Did Two Bob Mean?
Two bob meant two shillings, or one-tenth of a pound. Bob was the familiar slang word for a shilling, so ten bob represented ten shillings, equivalent to half a pound.
The expression survives in memories, films and older British television programmes, even though the pre-decimal shilling is long gone.
What Was a Tanner?
A tanner was a sixpence, a coin worth six old pennies. Because a shilling was worth twelve old pennies, a tanner represented half a shilling.
The word was established slang before decimalisation, although its origin is uncertain.
What Was a Half-Crown?
A half-crown was worth two shillings and sixpence, or one-eighth of a pound.
Unlike bob and tanner, half-crown was the name of the denomination rather than primarily a slang nickname.
The change to decimal currency gradually removed the need for much of the old vocabulary. The pound remained, but the traditional system of shillings and old pence disappeared.
Horse Racing and Bookmakers’ Money Slang
Horse racing has played an important role in preserving British money slang.
Before digital betting slips and electronic odds displays, racecourse bookmakers communicated prices and accepted stakes in busy betting rings. A shared vocabulary helped transactions take place quickly.
Some expressions described amounts of money. Others described the odds being offered, the favourite or the movement of a horse’s price.
The distinction remains important when reading older racing reports or listening to traditional bookmakers.
Common Betting and Racecourse Slang
| Betting expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Jolly | The favourite in a race |
| Bismarck | A favourite bookmakers believe is vulnerable and are happy to oppose |
| Rag | An outsider, usually at a long price |
| Steamer | A horse whose odds shorten significantly |
| Drifter | A horse whose odds lengthen |
| On the nose | A win-only bet |
| Levels | Even-money odds, or 1/1 |
| SP | Starting Price, the official odds used when the race begins |
| Nap | A tipster’s strongest selection of the day |
| Tic-tac | Traditional hand signals used to communicate betting odds |
The Arena Racing Company racing jargon guide documents many of these expressions.
A jolly is simply the market favourite. A bismarck is a favourite that bookmakers consider beatable, while a rag is a horse regarded as an outsider.
None of these descriptions guarantees what will happen in the race.
Similarly, a steamer is a horse whose odds have shortened, often because of market support. That tells you something about price movements, not whether the horse will win.
For more on the meaning of a nap, see our horse racing NAP guide.
Tic-Tac Betting Slang: When Pony and Carpet Mean Odds
Here is where British money slang becomes especially interesting.
In the traditional racecourse betting ring, bookmakers used a system called tic-tac to communicate prices through hand gestures and spoken expressions.
Several names overlapped with slang for cash, but their numerical meanings were different.
| Traditional odds slang | Fractional odds | Decimal odds |
|---|---|---|
| Levels | 1/1 | 2.00 |
| Bottle | 2/1 | 3.00 |
| Carpet | 3/1 | 4.00 |
| Burlington Bertie | 100/30 | 4.33 recurring |
| Rouf | 4/1 | 5.00 |
| Cockle | 10/1 | 11.00 |
| Pony | 25/1 | 26.00 |
| Double carpet | 33/1 | 34.00 |
These are traditional ring expressions, not names that necessarily appear on a modern bookmaker’s website.
For example:
- Pony: £25 when describing a cash amount, but 25/1 when quoting traditional racecourse odds.
- Cockle: £10 in certain money slang, but 10/1 as a betting-ring price.
- Carpet: 3/1 in racecourse slang, although carpet has also meant £300 in older car-dealing slang.
The word carpet is particularly revealing. It has historically been associated with the number three in several contexts. Its use for both money and betting prices is an extension of that association, rather than one fixed monetary definition.
Michael Quinion discusses its complicated origins in his research on carpet as slang.
Where Did the Tic-Tac Names Come From?
Some were built from numbers written backwards.
Rouf is four reversed, while neves represents seven and net represents ten. Others came from rhymes, cultural references or the hand gestures themselves.
The UK Bookmakers guide to tic-tac signals records how the prices were communicated.
For example, a price of 2/1, called bottle, was represented by a hand touching the nose. At 3/1, or carpet, the hand moved to the chin.
At 25/1, the pony signal involved bringing the fists together twice before touching the shoulder.
Tic-tac was familiar to British racing television viewers through John McCririck, who regularly used the gestures when discussing betting markets.
The system has largely disappeared as bookmakers adopted electronic communications and digital pricing. Its vocabulary, however, survives in racing glossaries and among people familiar with the older betting ring.
What Does UK Money Slang Mean When Placing a Bet?
Knowing the value of a pony or monkey is one thing. Understanding the amount being staked is another.
Betting expressions can describe a single stake, the amount placed on each part of a bet, or the price being offered. Consider a few straightforward examples.
Example 1: A Pony on the Nose at 4/1
A punter puts a pony on a horse to win at 4/1.
The calculation is:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stake | £25 |
| Fractional odds | 4/1 |
| Potential profit | £100 |
| Total return if successful | £125 |
The total return includes the original stake. If the selection loses, the £25 stake is lost.
“On the nose” means the punter has backed the horse to win, without a separate place bet.
The same price would appear as 5.00 in decimal odds.
Example 2: A Pony Each Way
An each-way bet is different because it consists of two separate stakes: one on the selection to win and one on it to place.
Someone putting a pony each way on a horse is therefore risking £50 in total. That is £25 on the win and another £25 on the place.
The precise return depends on the horse’s odds, the place fraction and the number of places paid.
If the horse wins, both parts ordinarily pay. If it finishes in a qualifying place without winning, only the place part pays.
Our each-way betting guide explains the mechanics, while the BCP bet calculator can be used to check stakes and potential returns.
Example 3: A Fiver on Every Line of a Lucky 15
Money slang also becomes relevant when betting on multiple selections.
A Lucky 15 consists of 15 separate bets involving four selections: four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one fourfold accumulator.
A fiver per line means £5 on each of those 15 bets. That makes the total stake £75, not £5.
The same principle applies to a Yankee, which contains 11 bets across four selections. A £5 unit stake on a Yankee costs £55. These examples show why it is worth distinguishing the unit stake from the total stake, regardless of which slang expression is being used.
British Money Slang in the UK: Frequently Asked Questions
Is a monkey £50 or £500?
A monkey is £500 in British money slang. £50 is generally called half a ton, although the traditional expression bullseye is also used. Two monkeys equal £1,000.
Is a pony £20 or £25?
A pony is £25. The slang term for £20 is a score. Pony can also refer to 25/1 odds in traditional racecourse betting, where the context makes the difference.
What is £100 called in British slang?
£100 is a ton. Century and oner are other expressions for a hundred, although their familiarity varies. Half a ton means £50.
What is £50 called in Cockney slang?
Bullseye is one traditional expression for £50, referencing the 50-point inner bull on a dartboard. Half a ton is another widely recognised term.
What is £10 in Cockney rhyming slang?
Cock and hen rhymes with ten and is often shortened to cockle. Ayrton Senna, sometimes shortened to Ayrton, is another rhyme for tenner.
What does £1,000 mean in Cockney slang?
A grand is £1,000. In Cockney rhyming slang, a bag of sand means the same amount, because sand rhymes with grand. The expression is sometimes shortened to bag.
Why do they call £500 a monkey?
There is no established explanation. The expression dates back to at least 1827 and has longstanding associations with gambling. Claims about old Indian banknotes featuring a monkey remain unsubstantiated.
What is £25 in Cockney rhyming slang?
Pony is the traditional £25 term, while macaroni is its rhyming-slang equivalent. Macaroni rhymes with pony rather than with twenty-five.
What does two bob mean in old British money?
Two bob means two shillings. In the pre-decimal system, that was one-tenth of a pound, equivalent to 10 modern pence by denomination rather than purchasing power.
Are pony and monkey still used in Britain?
Yes, although they are less common in ordinary conversation than quid, tenner or grand. They remain recognisable to many people, particularly those familiar with betting, older British television and traditional market slang.
The last word on British Money Slang
British money slang is a mixture of everyday language, old counting systems, Cockney rhymes and expressions handed down through the betting ring.
Some terms have clear meanings and histories. A score is twenty, a ton is a hundred and a grand is a thousand. Others, particularly pony and monkey, have survived for centuries without anyone conclusively establishing where their names came from.
The essential values are easy enough to remember: a score is £20, a pony is £25, a ton is £100, a monkey is £500 and a grand is £1,000.
The more specialised vocabulary is worth knowing too, particularly when reading older racing reports. A pony can describe a stake or a price, carpet can mean different things in different trades, and a fiver per betting line can add up to a much larger overall stake.
Modern bet slips display the actual amounts, but the slang remains an entertaining part of British gambling history.
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