two bob

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English

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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two bob (uncountable)

  1. (UK, Australia, obsolete) Two shillings; a florin.
  2. (Australia, slang) A 20-cent coin.
  3. (idiomatic, UK, Australia, often attributive) A trivially small value.
    • 1999, Barry Maitland, The Chalon Heads: A Kathy and Brock Mystery[1], page 181:
      Less flashy in its post-modernism than the MI6 building, more sober in its brick-framed glass curtain walling, Sally Malone would have pointed out that this was the two-bob side of the block, as against the half-crown riverbank site of the other building.
    • 1975 September 4, “Monitor: Nova Honda brightens the night sky”, in New Scientist, page 515:
      Judging from the spectrum and the brightness Dr Stickland “wouldn′t give two bob either way”.

Usage notes

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The use of two bob for a 20-cent coin derives from the equivalence of two shillings for 20 cents for the purpose of conversion during decimalisation (in 1966); since then, the term has slowly dropped out of usage and it is seldom used today.

Derived terms

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