# Quids in **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2003, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quids-in/169272 "2003-04-17T09:57:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stigoftdump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@stigoftdump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stigoftdump)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quids-in/169272/1 "2003-04-17T09:57:02Z")
Okay then everyone, more slang etymology for you! Where does the word “quid” come from, as in the slang for the British Pound? My dictionary tells me nothing . . . “Unknown origin” is the curse of the inquisitive brain! It seems weird as well that it doesn’t change from plural to singular . . . it’s correct to say “a quid” as well as “thirty quid”. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quids-in/169272/2 "2003-04-17T10:21:54Z")
From the Latin “Quid Pro Quo”, literally “something for something else”, meaning an exchange, i.e financial. ---
**Author:** ![stigoftdump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@stigoftdump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stigoftdump)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quids-in/169272/3 "2003-04-17T10:23:50Z")
Aaaah! That makes sense. Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quids-in/169272/4 "2003-04-17T10:24:19Z")
It seems you’re not alone in your search or your lack of answers… [Halfway down this page](http://www.word-detective.com/122099.html) > [@](#): > > “Quid” has been used as slang for “pound” since the late 17th century, but no one really knows why. It may be that “quid” was adopted as a bit of clever slang based on its Latin meaning of “what,” perhaps as a shortened form of an oblique slang phrase such as “what one needs” (i.e., money). Or it may be that it comes from a misunderstanding (or humorous spin on) the phrase “quid pro quo” (as in “Here’s your quo, where’s my quid?”). Personally, I lean toward the second theory, but we may never know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![rsvp9146](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rsvp9146](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsvp9146)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quids-in/169272/5 "2003-04-17T17:27:16Z")
I think that it actually says “Why Im Glad” on Pound coins ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quids-in/169272/6 "2003-04-17T19:05:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rsvp9146 \* > \*\*I think that it actually says “Why Im Glad” on Pound coins \*\* There are five designs of pound coin in circulation at the moment. One design has the royal coat of arms on the reverse and the words DECUS ET TUTAMEN (“An Ornament and a Safeguard” in Latin) around the edge; another has an English emblem and DECUS ET TUTAMEN; another has a Northern Ireland emblem and DECUS ET TUTAMEN; another has a Scottish emblem and the words NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT (“No One Provokes Me with Impunity”); _and the fifth has a Welsh emblem and PLEIDOL WYF I’M GWLAD (“True Am I to My Country” in Welsh around the edge)_. They all have the queen’s face and some more Latin I won’t bore you with on the obverse.