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Pound

October 2022

Cartoon by Gymglish

Pounds of slang

A pony: £25. Current price of a 1 litre of petrol in London.

A ton: £100. Confusingly, "a ton" equals 2000 pounds (mass).

A monkey: £500. Price of a chimpanzee online. Inflation sucks.

A grand: £1000. Pocket change for new billionaire PM Rishi Sunak.

Definitions

The pound (sterling, GBP; £): UK currency. Not a euro.

A pound: Imperial unit of mass; 1 lb = 0.45kg

To pound: to strike forcefully or repeatedly.

Pounds in the news

Following a failed tax cut, the British pound collapsed, leading to PM Liz Truss' resignation.

The pound isn't the only British institution being pounded: Queen Elizabeth's death means the 1-pound coin will now feature King Charles' ears face.

Pound expressions

A (dog, car) pound: short for "impound." Place for lost dogs and badly-parked cars. Most dogs are excellent drivers.

To pound sand: to engage in futile activity. Try keeping up with the news on 10 Downing Street.

Pound for pound: a disproportionate comparison. Ex: Pound for pound, the economic crisis is nothing compared to this fuel crisis!
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Cartoon by Gymglish

Definitions

The pound (sterling, GBP; £): UK currency. Not a euro.

A pound: Imperial unit of mass; 1 lb = 0.45kg

To pound: to strike forcefully or repeatedly.

Pounds in the news

Following a failed tax cut, the British pound collapsed, leading to PM Liz Truss' resignation.

The pound isn't the only British institution being pounded: Queen Elizabeth's death means the 1-pound coin will now feature King Charles' ears face.

Pounds of slang

A pony: £25. Current price of a 1 litre of petrol in London.

A ton: £100. Confusingly, "a ton" equals 2000 pounds (mass).

A monkey: £500. Price of a chimpanzee online. Inflation sucks.

A grand: £1000. Pocket change for new billionaire PM Rishi Sunak.

Pound expressions

A (dog, car) pound: short for "impound." Place for lost dogs and badly-parked cars. Most dogs are excellent drivers.

To pound sand: to engage in futile activity. Try keeping up with the news on 10 Downing Street.

Pound for pound: a disproportionate comparison. Ex: Pound for pound, the economic crisis is nothing compared to this fuel crisis!
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The Word of the Month is created by Gymglish, in partnership with Le Monde.
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