General
yennep
What does yennep mean?
A penny. From 'penny' reversed to 'yennep', the back-slang traders used to call prices and reckon change without customers fully following the haggle.
"A yennep each or three for tuppence, take it or leave it."
Origin
Cockney costermonger back-slang of the 1840s, part of the coded number-and-coin system Henry Mayhew (1851) described in detail and Hotten (1859) catalogued, used so sellers could talk money in front of buyers.
Frequently asked questions
What does yennep mean?
It means a penny — 'penny' said backwards in Cockney back-slang.
Why reverse the word for a coin?
So sellers could discuss real cost and profit margins out loud while haggling, keeping the customer in the dark.
What's the back-slang for a pound?
A pound was 'dunop', the same reversal trick applied to the larger unit of money.
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