Queer as a nine bob note

Despite its lack of political correctness, this expression is still used today to describe a homosexual but this was not the original meaning. Because there is no such thing as a nine bob note, ‘queer as nine bob note’ simply meant ‘odd, peculiar or worthless’ as a nine bob note and dates in this sense from the early 20th century. It is in fact preceded by its American equivalents, ‘queer as a three dollar bill’, which is first recorded from the late 19th century. The association of these expressions with homosexuality only came later from the mid-20th century. The often encountered ‘bent as a nine bob note’ can refer to homosexuality or it can simply mean crooked or dishonest and both meanings date from the 1960s. See also Bent and Bent as a nine bob note.