The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #104750   Message #2148632
Posted By: Rowan
13-Sep-07 - 08:00 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Expressions lost/gained with SI measures
Subject: RE: Folklore: Expressions lost/gained with SI measures
Declan,
As one o' them furriners (or "colonials") I take it you're referring to a "a pint". In Oz there weren't many pints drunk in a pub; instead they had
pony
glass
middy
schooner
etc, all referring to different sizes (in fluid ounces) and differently applied to the same sizes in different states. They still are referred to in these days of SI but contain metric volumes instead.

Nicholas,
We too lost our ha'penny (ha'pennorth, if dealing with value)
penny (ditto)
tuppence
thruppence (for polite ladies) and trey (for us hoi polloi)
zac (although the five cent coin was the equivalent in value and size)
deena (ditto for 10 cent coin), "bob" and the boy scout "Bob a job Week"
florin (although that term wasn't used much), "two bob" and it's derisive use "not worth two bob"
half a crown hadn't been in common use for a while anyway
"Bent as a three bob note"; there never had been such a thing
crown (ditto for half a crown), often earlier called a "dollar" as a result of American troops
ten bob, half a quid (became a dollar)
quid (leading to loss of "not the full quid" meaning "two bricks short of a wall) etc)
guinea (thank goodness)

The song "Five and a zac" became a museum piece when dismal guernsey came in.

Cheers, Rowan