rouf

plural roufs

1. costermongersThe number four.

   "Give me two gen, then, and take the whole bloody tol. I've walked me teef orf afore rouf this mornin', and wot 'ave I got? Two bloody yenneps! I ask yer."

   1978, Rose Ayers, The Street Sparrows

   2 more examples

   The betting also began to shift. "Sixpence Ned wins!" cried three or four; "Sixpence he loses!" answered another; "Done!" and up went the halfpence. "Half-a-crown Joe loses!"—"Here you are," answered Joe, but he lost again. "I'll try you a 'gen'" (shilling) said a coster; "And a 'rouf yenap'" (fourpence), added the other. "Say a 'exes'" (sixpence).—"Done!" and the betting continued, till the ground was spotted with silver and halfpence.

   1851, Henry Mayhew, “Gambling of Costermongers”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, page 17

   Then the horse trading would begin with the words, from the jobber, of: "What's your size?" […] The broker might reply with the word rouf (a 4,000 share trade, which was a very small order); a score (20,000); a monkey (half a million); or a gorilla (one million shares - a very big order).

   2011, Ian Lyall, The Street-Smart Trader, Harriman House Limited, →ISBN, page 11

   1. slangcostermongers; crime; crimeA prison sentence of four years.
   2. obsoleteslangcostermongersbusinessFour shillings.
   3. slangcostermongersbusinessFour pounds sterling.

      I don't want a cockle – I don't want a neuf – I don't want a fat lady or a nevis – I don't want an exis, a flim or a rouf – or a carpet or bottle – These green flip-flops are a phunt a pair! And they've all got to go!

      2014, David Eldridge, Market Boy, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 48

   4. slangcostermongersgamblingOdds of four to one.