A delightfully obscure piece of old British slang for a sixpence — the small silver coin worth six old pennies that circulated until decimalisation in 1971. The origin of the phrase is debated, but it fits into a long tradition of British rhyming and whimsical slang for coins. A sow's baby might have been humorous shorthand born from the pig's associations with small, round, pink things — though the exact logic of Victorian and Georgian slang rarely needs to be airtight to stick.
The street sweeper tipped his cap and held out his hand, hoping for at least a sow's baby for his trouble.
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(UK, obsolete, slang) A sixpence coin.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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