bed and breakfast, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

bed and breakfast n.

[2s 6d (12½p), at one time the going rate for a B&B establishment]

1. (bingo) the number 26.

2001

J. Burkardt ‘The Bingo Code’ Wordplay 🌐 26: bed and breakfast.

2. (Aus./N.Z./UK prison, also bed and breakfast lag, breakfast (lunch and tea)) a very short sentence; also (UK) a night in the punishment block, a one-night stay in a prison en route to another (see cite 2015).

1972		Parramatta Jail Gloss. B. Moore (ed.) (2023) 54: bed and breakfast seven days imprisonment.
1996		A. Devlin Prison Patter 26: Bed and breakfast, very short sentence.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 15/1: bed and breakfast (also breakfast) n. a very short sentence [...] ‘He's doing a bed and breakfast lag, so he’ll be going home, soon’.
2015		N. ‘Razor’ Smith Criminal Alphabet 154: A night in the punishment block before appearing in front of the governor [...] an overnight stay in any prison whil en route to another.