rouf

Noun

rouf (plural roufs)

1. (costermongers) The number four.
   • 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'"...1851, Henry Mayhew, “Gambling of Costermongers”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, page 17
   • "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
   1. (slang, costermongers, crime) A prison sentence of four years.
   2. (obsolete, slang, costermongers) Four shillings.
   3. (slang, costermongers) Four 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. (slang, costermongers) Odds of four to one.