half, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

half n.

[abbr.]

1. (US) half a dollar.

1851

G. Thompson Jack Harold 31: Joe planks the half.

2. half a gill (70ml) of spirits.

1890

‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘Licensed by the L.C.C.’ Sporting Times 1 Mar. 1/2: The lady gladly joined him in two halves of water neat [...] the liquor being potent.

3. half a pint (280ml) of beer; esp. in phr. a quick / swift half.

1906		E. Dyson Fact’ry ’Ands 109: She [...] bats him all round ther yard [...] iv he on’y darest’ think he wants arf ’er beer.
1941		J. Cary Herself Surprised (1955) 231: What about a half?
1987		P. Robinson Gallows View (2002) 50: You’re probably over the limit, anyway. I’ve only been drinking halves.
1999		J. Cameron Brown Bread in Wengen [ebook] ‘Fancy a quick half then mate eh?’.
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 267: Ad spend the next two deys [...] bein fed bags uv crisps an arves uv stout every few owers.

4. £50 or $50.

1923		H.C. Witwer Fighting Blood 118: When I see how Rags is trying to gyp Spence out of two hundred and a half I get red-headed.
1947		J. Maclaren-Ross Of Love And Hunger 45: ‘I’ve got a sale [...] A half,’ he said.
1958		Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, OH) 5 Nov. 21/5: Prosecution witnesses started using terms like [...] ‘a half’ (50 pounds – $140).
1971		J.D. Horan Blue Messiah 33: Tom’s gonna lend me a half.
1996		J. Cameron It Was An Accident 55: Slip took a note out of under his watchband. Passed it across nice and easy. Was a fifty. [...] ‘Jesus Slip how’d you get a half in here?’.

5. ten shillings (50p).

1937

J. Curtis You’re in the Racket, Too 194: Pay for it with the half.

6. (drugs, also halfie) a half-ounce.

1952		(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 257: Jeez, Fuzz mus be givin him halfies.
1975		Hardy & Cull Drug Lang. and Lore.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 197: Cars lined up there weekend nights [...] buyin’ quarters and halves like burgers at the drive-through.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 11: Half — 1/2 ounce.

7. see better half n. (1)

In compounds

half-piece (n.) [piece n. (7a)]

(drugs) a half-ounce (14g) of heroin or cocaine (cf. quarter piece under quarter n.).

1938		D. Maurer ‘Lang. of the Und. Narcotic Addict’ Pt 2 in Lang. Und. (1981) 107/1: Such terms as halfpiece, quarter-piece, eighth-piece seem to retain the meaning half-ounce, quarter-ounce, etc.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.
1970		G. Cain Blueschild Baby 24: ‘You straight?’ ‘Yeah, what you want?’ ‘Two halves.’ ‘Walk into the hall’.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 11: Half piece — 1/2 ounce of heroin or cocaine.

SE in slang uses

In phrases

— and a half

a general intensifier, e.g. a cunt and a half, a very unpleasant person indeed; a party and a half, a really good party.

1835		‘Billy Bighead’ in Cove in Spedding & Watt (eds) Bawdy Songbooks (2011) IV 227: Like a spoon [i.e. a fool] and a a half, with her he tied the knot.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 315/1: He had a butler, a regular ‘knark,’ who was a b-- and a half.
1890		‘’Arry on the Sincerest Form of Flattery’ in Punch 20 Sept. 144/2: I’m all right and a ’arf, mate.
1909		G.R. Bacchus Pleasure Bound ‘Ashore’ 102: ‘You did that splendidly, and we’ll give you a treat and a half for thanks’.
1961		L. Block Diet of Treacle (2008) 115: The heroin was burning a hole–and–a–half in his pocket.
1967		J. Rechy Numbers (1968) 62: Thirty more pounds and you’ll really have a body and a half!
1979		E. Torres After Hours 57: That fuckin’ Woody Cohen was a thief and a half.
1988		D. Woodrell Muscle for the Wing 62: My buddy, ol’ Jack Nicholson, who is just a card and a half.
1993		E. Liebow Tell Then Who I Am 269: [S]he remained in the house because walking was ‘a pain and a half’ .
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 and a half 1. used to indicate an extreme condition or an excessive amount. (‘Man, I’ve got a cold and a half.’) Can also be used by itself in response to someone. (‘You got some beer?’ Response: ‘And a half!’).
2000		N. Griffiths Grits 128: Shuz a twat an a half tha Sharon wan.