guinea, n.² — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

guinea n.²

guinea bird (n.)

see separate entry.

guinea-dropper (n.)

a confidence trickster who drops counterfeit guineas to ensnare the gullible.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Sweetners, Guinea-Droppers, Cheats, Sharpers.
a.1704		T. Brown Comical View of London and Westminster in Works (1760) I 162: As pale as a guinea-dropper, when he’s carried before a worshipful justice.
1712		J. Gay Trivia (1716) Bk III 43: Who now the Guinea-Dropper’s Bait regards, Tricked by the Sharper’s Dice, or Juggler’s Cards?
1734		Ipswich Jrnl 25 May 3/1: Gentleman Harry, a great Gamester, and reputed Guinea Dropper.
1765		Scots Mag. 2 Sept.28/2: It is a matter of indifference to him [...] whether he is fleeced by a pickpocket or a guinea-dropper.

guinea hen (n.) [pun on SE guinea hen/SE guinea + hen n. (2), i.e. a girl who costs a guinea]

a courtesan, a prostitute.

1604		Shakespeare Othello I iii: ’Ere I would say, I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon.
1639		H. Glapthorne Albertus Wallenstein III iii: Yonder’s the cock oth’ game, / About to tred yon ginny hen, they’r billing.
1708		British Apollo No. 90. 2: You in an Honourable Amour...cannot bear a little Cackling from a Guinea Hen! [OED].

guinea pig (n.)

see separate entry.

guinea to a gooseberry (n.) (also guinea to a goose, ...goosegog, guineas to gooseberries) [var. on Lombard Street to a china orange phr.]

the longest possible odds, thus an absolute certainty.

1824		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 19 Sept. 269/3: After the fifty-second [round] it was a guinea to a gooseberry on Harry.
1873		Sl. Dict. 184: Guinea to a goose a sporting phrase, meaning long odds in favour of, or against, anything under notice.
1884		H. Smart Post to Finish I 106: What! old Writson against Sam Pearson? Why, it’s a guinea to a gooseberry on Sam!
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 34: Guinea to a Gooseberry, long odds against or in favor of a horse winning a race.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 24 Feb. 24/1: From the beginning to the fifth of the term had expired it looked a guinea to a gooseberry on one, and he the Smellbourne little-’un.
1917		‘Banjo’ Paterson ‘Victor Second’ in Three Elephant Power 114: It looked a guinea to a gooseberry that some of them would fall on him.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 405: Mare on form hot order. Guinea to a goosegog.
1935		C. Drew ‘The Bone-Head’ in Bulletin 6 May 28/4: ‘[I]t’s guineas to gooseberries Vazzo’s on top’.
1967		F.J. Hardy in Great Aus. Lover Stories 138: It’s guineas to gooseberries you’ll have a shocking air trip.