Ton

Ton (noun / UK slang)

(Also heard as: A ton, Doing a ton)

Definition: Exactly a hundred quid (£100). Also used by petrolheads to mean bombing it down the motorway at 100 mph.

Pronunciation: /tʌn/

Where It Comes From: Blame cricket and old-school dog tracks.

Batters have called scoring 100 runs “hitting a ton” since the Victorian days. Shady East End bookies and market traders pinched the word so they could shout about a £100 bet across a crowded dog track without tipping off everyone around them.

Then, in the 50s and 60s, the leather-jacketed rocker subculture grabbed the word and took it to the greasy spoon cafes. If you could tune your motorbike to hit 100 mph on the A406, you were officially “doing the ton”—a proper badge of honour back then.

How People Actually Use It: It’s just the natural, painless way to say a hundred pounds.

Nobody says “one hundred pounds sterling” when they’re moaning about the cost of living. You drop it when the garage tells you what an MOT failure is going to cost, when you’re buying a decent jacket, or when you check your bank balance after a heavy night out and realise you’re down a ton with nothing to show for it but a greasy kebab receipt.

Examples in the Wild:

• “That jacket set me back a ton.”

  Translation: “That coat cost me £100.”

• “I’m short a ton for the rent this month, can you spot us?”

  Translation: “I need £100 to make rent, could you lend it to me?”

• “The plumber took ten minutes to unblock the sink and charged me a ton.”

  Translation: “The tradesman charged £100 for a very quick, simple job.”

Similar Slang: Wedge, Tenner, Monkey (£500), Grand (£1,000), Quid, Wonga