The British pound, also known as pound sterling, is a viable currency despite pressure to adopt the euro. The origins of the slang term “quid” for pound are unclear, but it is widely used in England. The British government will only convert to the euro if it is in the national interest.
A quid is a pound, in British parlance. Some British dependency residents also use this term, and in Ireland people may also refer to a euro as a pound, just to add to the confusion. Britain has been extremely resistant to adopting the euro, despite pressure from other European Union members, and the British pound is likely to remain a viable unit of currency for some time.
The origins of the term “quid” are a bit difficult to pin down. The term has been used since the late 1600s to describe the pound, and may derive from the Latin quid pro quo, or “something for something,” implying some sort of exchange. It could also be a reference to the former site of a Royal Mint paper mill in Quidhampton, Wiltshire. Whatever the origin of the word, it is used extensively in England as a familiar slang term for a pound, and prices are sometimes given in quids, especially in casual advertisements.
Formally, the British pound is known as the Pound Sterling, or simply “pound sterling”. The use of sterling dates back to Anglo-Saxon times in England, although it has since undergone a number of changes. Pounds are denoted by the symbol £, which is always placed before the number with no space, as in £40,000. In 1971, Britain abandoned the complex fractional system of shillings and pence for a decimal system, which denotes a pound as 100 pence, much to the delight of frustrated British math students.
The long history of the British pound has been a big part of why the British are reluctant to ditch the quid for the euro. Several nations in the European Union have struggled with currency conversion, because converting to a universal currency, while having obvious benefits, can also feel like a loss of an important part of history. The British government has said it will not convert to the euro unless it can establish that the conversion is in the “national interest,” in the words of former prime minister Tony Blair.
The plural of quid is also “quid” and the word is usually used after the denomination cited, as in “nine quid”, rather than “quid nine”. This piece of British slang often appears in fiction and film set in Britain, especially when the characters are from the lower classes, and usage of the term varies in different parts of Britain and its dependencies. As a general rule, guests stick to “pound” rather than “quid,” unless they want to look impressed.
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