An ice cream cone with a Cadbury's chocolate flake stuck in it is called a 99 - why this is, nobody actually knows!!. In fact the Oxford English Dictionary would like to know where this came form.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Lost in translation (US to UK)
- Thread starter secretface
- Start date
An ice cream cone with a Cadbury's chocolate flake stuck in it is called a 99 - why this is, nobody actually knows!!. In fact the Oxford English Dictionary would like to know where this came form.
It's because when the Mr Softy ice cream van came round in the 1960s - it had a picture of this on the side and said next to it, that it was a "99" - so you knew to ask for this as a kid!
More commonly "berk" - Rhyming Slang from "Berkshire Hunt" = the "C" word again. Very rare to hear the term used with that strength, more usually indicates idiot/fool
A few fiscally related ones (some are London-specific)
Ayrton = tenner = ten pounds (from Ayrton Senna)
Bag of Sand = Grand = one thousand pounds
Beer Tokens = money
Copper = mixture of 1p & 2p pieces
Dosh = cash, generally
Fiver = five pounds
Monkey = five hundred pounds
Nicker = a pound
Nifty = fifty pounds
Half a Nicker = 50p
Pony = twenty-five pounds
Readies = money
Score = twenty pounds
Shrapnel = loose change
Silver = any combination of 5p, 10p, 20p & 50p pieces
Sovs = pounds. Short for sovereigns
Spondulicks = money
Squid = a pound
Ton = one hundred pounds
A few others, quite a few of which are derogatory...
Septic (Tank) = Yank
Nancy-Boy = Homosexual
Nonce = Paedo
Rodney = Plonker = Idiot (from very popular BBC sitcom "Only Fools & Horses")
Fuzz, Rozzers, Old Bill, Pigs, Filth = Policemen
Convict = Australian
Mother's Ruin = Gin
A Light Ale (as in "I went out on Friday & had a light ale") = three day bender of which you have no recollection and are now wondering where you are, who/what is in bed with you & where the traffic cone came from.
Drum = Flat/Apartment
Munter, Minger, Swamp-Donkey, (Grievous) Hoond = unattractive woman
Shreddies/Cacks (Kacks) = Male underwear, usually Y-fronts
Tube, Idiot Box, Goggle Box, Telly = TV
TV = Transvestite
Salmon = Tobacco or Cigarette (Rhyming Slang - Salmon & Trout, Snout [prison code])
Well they cost 9 old pennies (4p) when I first remember them in the 1965!!.
The point I was making was - why they are actually called a 99 is a mystery - Cadburys - who supply the short flakes don't know and niether did anyone who'd been in the ice-cream business for generations did either.
There was series on BBC 2 a couple of years ago - "Balderdash and Piffle" - that tried to find out where well known phrases or sayings came from and 99 was one of them and they never got to the bottom of it!!.
BTW they decided that Slang came from and abbreviation of Secret Language. As in Cockney Rhyming slang (see "Berk" above).
Funnily enough "Plonker", before "Only Fools and Horses" mean't Penis - "are you joking?" translated to "are you pulling my plonker?"
The point I was making was - why they are actually called a 99 is a mystery - Cadburys - who supply the short flakes don't know and niether did anyone who'd been in the ice-cream business for generations did either.
There was series on BBC 2 a couple of years ago - "Balderdash and Piffle" - that tried to find out where well known phrases or sayings came from and 99 was one of them and they never got to the bottom of it!!.
BTW they decided that Slang came from and abbreviation of Secret Language. As in Cockney Rhyming slang (see "Berk" above).
Funnily enough "Plonker", before "Only Fools and Horses" mean't Penis - "are you joking?" translated to "are you pulling my plonker?"
So I was just at that bizarre point in inflation where the name made sense then?
Fantastic
The entire ice cream industry must have been waiting for circa 1995 with baited breath for years lol.
Fantastic
The entire ice cream industry must have been waiting for circa 1995 with baited breath for years lol.This thread is great, but could be better if people listed their location.
Also, no one mentioned "Cheeky." That's one of my favorite phrases..."You cheeky bastard" I'm not exactly sure what cheeky means, but it's just funny to me.
Also, no one mentioned "Cheeky." That's one of my favorite phrases..."You cheeky bastard" I'm not exactly sure what cheeky means, but it's just funny to me.
So are the "Dog's Bollocks" akin to "The Cat's Ass"?? If something is The Cat's Ass, it is very desirable or awesome.
This thread is the cat's ass!!
bys ye alls fergots 'bout dem newfenlandars ups der in da east coast of's canada, Ra!
we's gots sum tick ole talk on 'er
we's gots sum tick ole talk on 'er
This isn't really true. Most people call French fries 'fries'. 'Chips' are different. Where fries and long and thin, chips are shorter and fatter, like this:
I'll see if I can take a photo of some chips next to some fries at some point.
That's how it done out here
Zach
I broke someone's leg playing rugby once...
I remember meeting an American girl, who informed me that she was looking for some 'cackie (khaki) pants'. Hilarious.
'Cheeky' means 'impudent'.
As a Brit living in the US for the last five years, every day still provides plenty of smiles over the language - as we say back home - "America is a country of 360 million wankers without a word for wanker" - jk 
Now I understand why you don't want the Euro in the UK, you'd need a whole new vocabulary
Irony...Is what Americans don't get........
Irony is the shop where I get my shirts pressed.
