Money Slang Special - What's the meaning of Fiver, Tenner and Bluey in British Slang?

The Slang Podcast - Learn British English Now

You are listening to our third episode specialising on slang and money!
Today we are starting by looking at the most common and widely used slang terms. I was in a bar recently with my Italian friend, i bought some drinks and she asked me how much i owed her.
I replied ‘only a fiver’ my friend looked at me with such confused on her face and replied ‘five what?!’.
This is when I released we have never spoken about one of slang terms I use most frequently. A fiver F-I-V-E-R simply means a five pound note.
This slang term is used everywhere in the UK, especially down south. You will hear it in pubs, supermarkets and even in restaurants.
Luckily we can also use a tenner T-E-N-N-E-R for a ten pound note. A fiver and a tenner have been used in slang since the mid 1800s. There is no clear reason for these slang terms but they are used daily in the UK, for example
- ‘how much was your t shirt?’
- ‘I gave him a tenner for the T-Shirt."
A five pound note is also sometimes referred to as a bluey for the obvious reason that they used to be the colour blue.
In cockney rhyming slang five pounds can also be referred to as a deep sea diver, rhythming with fiver, however this is not a common slang term. Just a fun one!
So next time you are in an english pub and someone says the pint is a fiver, do not raise your hand in the air and try to high five them! Just hand over a five pound note.
That’s the end of our episode of the day so remember to tune in for our next episode so see what new slang we have in store for you!
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