yellow boy

Definition

1. Noun (slang, historical):
   • Gold coin: "yellow boy" refers to a gold coin, especially a sovereign or guinea, in British slang from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Usage Examples

• (He used a gold coin to settle the sum.)
• (The sailor kept a gold coin concealed.)

Advanced Usage

• "to find a yellow boy": to discover or obtain a gold coin.

  • After years of saving, he finally found a yellow boy in his grandfather's chest. (He located a gold coin.)

• "to spend a yellow boy": to use a gold coin as payment.

  • She spent a yellow boy on a new dress at the market. (She paid with a gold coin.)

Variants and Related Words

• Yellow (adj): of the colour of gold or the sun.
  • The coin was bright yellow. (The colour resembled gold.)
• Boy (n): a male child or young man (used figuratively in the compound).
  • The term "boy" here is a personification of the coin.

Synonyms

• Gold coin: a coin made of gold.
• Sovereign: a British gold coin worth one pound.
• Guinea: a historical British gold coin worth one pound and one shilling.

Related Idioms

• Yellow boy (slang): a term for gold coins in general.
  • The thieves were after the yellow boys in the vault. (They sought gold coins.)

Etymology Note

The phrase "yellow boy" derives from the colour of gold, combined with the colloquial use of "boy" as a familiar term for an object (similar to "blue boy" for a police officer or "gingerbread" for a gold coin). It was popular in British slang during the 18th and 19th centuries.