0
Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

50p head

"Sevilla back on the attack - and Liverpool invite the pressure on. Kolo Toure puts on his 50p head when he tries to deal with a Sevilla ball into the box, causing a brief moment of panic before Emre Can nods out for a corner. That comes to nothing and Liverpool spring forward again..." (BBC Sport website.)

What is "50p head" in the above context?
  

Top answer

50p is a coin worth half of an English pound. This is a fairly common football (soccer) term for a comically bad headed ball or attempt to head a ball. When I was young prior to the UK adopting decimal currency in 1971, we used to call it a 'ten bob head' which is the same amount in old currency.

— Vic Z

  • 50p is a coin worth half of an English pound.
  • This is a fairly common football (soccer) term for a comically bad headed ball or attempt to head a ball.
  • When I was young prior to the UK adopting decimal currency in 1971, we used to call it a 'ten bob head' which is the same amount in old currency.
  • The expression has been around a long time and doesn't make a lot of sense, goodness knows where it came from originally.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

7 Answers
0
50p is a coin worth half of an English pound. This is a fairly common football (soccer) term for a comically bad headed ball or attempt to head a ball. When I was young prior to the UK adopting decimal currency in 1971, we used to call it a 'ten bob head' which is the same amount in old currency. The expression has been around a long time and doesn't make a lot of sense, goodness knows where it c
0
0
Thank you, Vic Z, for your detailed reply.
0
0
Vic Z50p is a coin worth half of an English pound. This is a fairly common football (soccer) term for a comically bad headed ball or attempt to head a ball. When I was young prior to the UK adopting decimal currency in 1971, we used to call it a 'ten bob head' which is the same amount in old currency. The expression has been around a long time and doesn't make a lot of se
0
0
It seems so logical I know but 'ten bob head' long pre-dates it and you still hear some old-timers saying it today. Maybe that's where they got the idea for the shape of the coins from. I just googled it and there are a couple of hits.
0
0
In retrospect maybe it does go back to the time when both currencies were in use together, certainly the coin shape was controversial, maybe some wag thought it up at the time, using the old terminology for the new coin.
0
0
Hi

The shape of the coin does seem to be relevant to the football phrase, so that dates it

However, there is also the phrase 'ten bob millionaire' which means 'someone who is trying to appear impressive but no one is impressed'. I think that may predate UK decimal coinage

Dave
0
0

The old ten Bob was a note, not a coin, but people referred to the new currency by the old names long after decimalisation.

Hence, a 50p coin was still commonly called 'ten bob' by older folk when I was a kid in the 80s.

The expression does rely on the shape of the 50p coin to make sense, so it must have started after decimalisation.

0

Related Questions