General
lady godiva
What does lady godiva mean?
By extension, used loosely for a small, manageable sum of cash handed over in a hurry.
"He slipped the doorman a Lady to skip the queue."
Origin
Twentieth-century East End rhyming slang playing on Lady Godiva, the legendary eleventh-century noblewoman of Coventry; the rhyme on 'fiver' postdates decimal-era banknote slang and sits in the wider Cockney money tradition documented from Hotten's 1859 'Dictionary of Modern Slang'.
Frequently asked questions
What does Lady Godiva mean in Cockney?
It means a fiver, a five-pound note. 'Godiva' rhymes with 'fiver', and the rhyming word is dropped so people just say 'a Lady'.
Why is it shortened to just 'Lady'?
Classic rhyming slang hides the clue. Speakers drop the rhyming word ('Godiva'/'fiver') and keep the harmless-sounding part, so only insiders catch the meaning.
Is Lady Godiva still used today?
It survives among older East Enders and in pub and market patter, though it's more heritage than everyday now.
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