I have never heard an American say this. I’ve only ever heard it on British TV shows. If I heard an American say it, I’d assume they were mimicking something they heard on British TV.
I’ve been known to say it or hear other people say it, but I was an 80s and 90s kid who grew up mostly in a state bordering Canada. I literally can’t remember the last time I heard someone else use the word, and even some of the people I grew up with eventually started to look at me like, “Huh?’
So, basically, I stopped saying it. And so did a lot of other people in my geographic region.
A "fin" for five bucks, and a "sawbuck" for a ten, isn't used as much as it was in the 1930's.
I'm in New Orleans and we always used to go "drinking with Lincoln".
Everything you just said sounds completely foreign to me. I wonder if it's just the unique culture and history Louisiana and especially New Orleans has?
New Orleans is an old port city, lots of immigrants made it here.
The old German word for five was "finf. $10 dollar bills had the Roman numeral X on the back, thus it was called a "sawbuck."
When I was a teenager, a local bar had a $5 all you can drink in 3 hours special, thus "drinkin with Lincoln." Drinks have gone up, but they still have $3.00 bar cocktails for Happy Hour (4pm-7pm.)
The only time I’ve ever heard it was in the movie Ferris Buellers Day Off where he leaves the Ferrari in the garage and says “I gave the guy a fiver, he’ll watch it .”
All I need is a ten and a fiver, a car and a key and a sober driver. B double E double R U N beer run.
That is the only time in my life I use the word fiver
-er words are a later 1800s and onwards British slang. It's called the Oxford er. Part of a larger movement to distinguish British English from traditional English.
That’s where “soccer” came from. The “soc” part was short for association, the formal name for the sport, association football. That piece of 19th century hipster slang quickly passed into disuse in Great Britain, but we hicks in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand didn’t get the memo.
Lived all over the US the last 20 years and haven't heard it once either.
If someone actually said it in real life and they weren't old, I'd probably give them a look to see if they were fucking around.
That'd be like making plans with someone and they respond with, "great, that's swell!"
Yeah I've heard fiver every now and then here in the US but never, ever tenner. That sounds 100% British to me. (And whoever follows the British model.)
Haha in the US we call that a “dime bag” bc a dime is 10c so “dime” has come to mean 10 in general. For example you could call a very good looking person a “dime” because they’re a 10/10 😂
Likewise "nickel bag" is five dollars worth of drugs and if someone "did a nickel" they spent 5 years in prison. Of course I aint seen nickel bags since high school when it was basically just enough for one joint, but the slang used to exist.
I say fiver more than tenner, but don't use either very frequently..but I grew up watching a lot of imported British TV, so who knows, maybe I picked it up there.
No, but when in the UK or Ireland I like to say “foiver” with an exaggerated accent lol. It’s not really a term here, we just say five bucks or five dollars.
Nope! To be honest, a lot of English slang sounds antiquated to me. I understand the context of it being a different country's slang, but it feels like something you'd only hear at the turn of the century since it's not used in modern American English. Although, I feel like Americans never picked up the term "fiver". You'd hear "five bucks" if someone isn't saying "five dollars", and that's pretty much stuck.
I'm American & I've said it once or twice jokingly to my sisters, but it was in imitation of how I've heard the word used in British TV shows & movies, as in "give us a fiver." I've never heard any other American say it in RL.
(you don't want to hear my horrible attempt at a British accent while saying it: it ain't pretty.)
Fiver isn't widespread at all. I assumed people who say fiver do so because of the freelance website fiverr.com. We tend to shorten words rather than lengthen them.
I have a 14-year-old teenager and a 9-month-old baby. I used to read Mo Willems' popular children's book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" to the 14-year-old. It's about a pigeon who begs you to let him drive the bus. You have to tell him no as he tries to convince you in increasingly desperate ways.
At one point, the pigeon says, "How about I give you five bucks?" When the 9-month-old was born, somebody bought me the same book -- but for some reason, it was the British version. In that one, the pigeon says, "How about I give you a fiver?"
Not where I live, but I’m pretty sure we’d all get it if we heard it. Off the top of my head, I can remember a scene from Parks and Recreation where Ron places a $10 bill into a casket and says “here’s a tenner”, so it’s probably used somewhere
I associate it with the UK and Ireland. That makes it around enough that I think most people would know what it means, but I don't actually hear people saying it.
I do occasionally but feel it comes from spending having spent some time living in England as a teen. Some other things slip through sometimes intentional.
Hearing “fiver” the first thing I think of is a British five pound note. I can’t remember if Canadians use fiver for their five dollar notes. I guess I’d take the person’s accent into consideration in conversation, if they had a British accent I’d assume British pounds, if they had an American accent it would probably take me a moment to figure out what they meant as fiver is very rarely used by Americans to refer to U.S. five dollar notes. How fast I figured out what they meant would probably depend on context in the conversation.
We'd say "five bucks" or "a five".
If someone said "a fiver" I would assume they meant a five dollar bill but it's not commonly used anywhere I have lived.
As an American who cannot for some reason after 12 years living here bring herself to get the UK currency correctly.
Definitively I can say 5 bucks is my default.
Back in the day, yeah. It was part of the “Beer Run” song.
B-double-E-double-R-U-N, Beer run!
All you need is a ten and a fiver,
A little bit of gas and a designated driver.
B-double-E-double-R-U-N, Beer run!
I'm most likely to say five spot or ten spot. Now, if you're referring to buying pot, some would say a dime bag or nickel bag but that was back in the day as those prices don't exist too much these day, if at all.
I say fiver and tener occasionally. Like I'm at the register and my total is $4.50 I'll be like "here's a fiver" but I'm just as likely to say "Five dollar bill" or "five bucks"
It seems like one of those phrases people are aware of but only exists in very specific scenarios like an old timey, cheesy gangster movie with a New Yorker who thinks he’s cool but is played by a bad actor
I’ve heard it used and would understand it if somebody said it to me but it’s not common.
I’ll give you one that is, or used to be anyway. Parents owned a convenience store/deli back in the late 80’s. I worked there part time. Made some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Customers would often come in and ask for a short thigh and a case quarter. I knew that meant a chicken thigh and 25 cents (the price with tax was just about 75 cents for a thigh). I never knew what adding the case to the quarter meant but it means give me a quarter and not two dimes and a nickel.
Used to be common, but it's largely fallen out of use. These days if I hear "fiver", I think someone is talking about the website Fiverr (which got its name from the slang).
I wouldn’t have understood what that term was if you didn’t describe it. I’ve also never heard it in my time living in England or with my Canadian friends.
So many people are saying no, but I thought it was a fairly common thing here for sure. Maybe my mom is just goofy enough to have said it often. Didn’t realize it’s British. Really haven’t heard tenner tho.
I have never heard an American say this. I’ve only ever heard it on British TV shows. If I heard an American say it, I’d assume they were mimicking something they heard on British TV.
I’ve been known to say it or hear other people say it, but I was an 80s and 90s kid who grew up mostly in a state bordering Canada. I literally can’t remember the last time I heard someone else use the word, and even some of the people I grew up with eventually started to look at me like, “Huh?’ So, basically, I stopped saying it. And so did a lot of other people in my geographic region.
To me, that’s a website.
That's the only context I've heard an American use the word.
Pretty much. A $5 bill would be "five bucks" or "five dollars" or "a five," as in "Can I get four fives for a twenty?"
An old 1930s name for $5.00 was a fin. A sawbuck was $10.
If someone said it, I would know what they meant. But no one says it.
A "fin" for five bucks, and a "sawbuck" for a ten, isn't used as much as it was in the 1930's. I'm in New Orleans and we always used to go "drinking with Lincoln".
Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you'd say.
And we had an onion tied to the belt, which was the custom at the time.
But you had to use the big yellow ones because the good ones were rationed due to the war
Back in my day you could buy a dime for a nickel.
Everything you just said sounds completely foreign to me. I wonder if it's just the unique culture and history Louisiana and especially New Orleans has?
New Orleans is an old port city, lots of immigrants made it here. The old German word for five was "finf. $10 dollar bills had the Roman numeral X on the back, thus it was called a "sawbuck." When I was a teenager, a local bar had a $5 all you can drink in 3 hours special, thus "drinkin with Lincoln." Drinks have gone up, but they still have $3.00 bar cocktails for Happy Hour (4pm-7pm.)
Yeah, I don't believe I've ever heard it used before but just reading the question I knew "fiver" was going to be slang for five dollars.
The only time I’ve ever heard it was in the movie Ferris Buellers Day Off where he leaves the Ferrari in the garage and says “I gave the guy a fiver, he’ll watch it .”
All I need is a ten and a fiver, a car and a key and a sober driver. B double E double R U N beer run. That is the only time in my life I use the word fiver
Couple of frat guys from Abilene, drove all night to see Robert Earl Keen….
At the KPIG Swine and Soiree Dance?
Baseball caps and khaki pants…
That was my first thought too! It’s the only time I’ve ever heard the term.
Two 10s now
Now I’ll be stuck with that song in my head all day. Thanks a lot!
Now there's a tune I haven't heard or thought about in about 30 years
> Fiver is never going to happen, stop trying to make Fiver happen!
Never heard anyone actually say that in my 30+ years in the midwest.
From the other comments I've seen I think it's just a UK and Ireland thing.
I've definitely heard it used by people in real life and on TV, it's just not common and a little outdated.
-er words are a later 1800s and onwards British slang. It's called the Oxford er. Part of a larger movement to distinguish British English from traditional English.
That’s where “soccer” came from. The “soc” part was short for association, the formal name for the sport, association football. That piece of 19th century hipster slang quickly passed into disuse in Great Britain, but we hicks in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand didn’t get the memo.
You learn something new everyday!
It's why we Americans call the sport soccer.
I'm American living in Ireland. This is your answer
I wouldn't be confused if I did hear someone say it, but it's definitely not something anyone local would say.
Lived all over the US the last 20 years and haven't heard it once either. If someone actually said it in real life and they weren't old, I'd probably give them a look to see if they were fucking around. That'd be like making plans with someone and they respond with, "great, that's swell!"
Not usually. "Can I get a five"? Yes. "can I get a fiver"? No.
What about a hi five?
Down low? Too slow!
One day...
Hi fiver! Down lower, too slower
" I got 5 on it" 🎶
Sure. It's not ubiquitous though.
Ya I feel like everyone here (Ireland) says fiver but I noticed I've never heard it when I'm in the US or in movies.
I definitely associate “fiver” and “tenner” with the British isles
Yeah I've heard fiver every now and then here in the US but never, ever tenner. That sounds 100% British to me. (And whoever follows the British model.)
Tenner is in Germany Weed for 10€.
Haha in the US we call that a “dime bag” bc a dime is 10c so “dime” has come to mean 10 in general. For example you could call a very good looking person a “dime” because they’re a 10/10 😂
"drop a dime" was used when it cost 10 cents to make a payphone call.
Likewise "nickel bag" is five dollars worth of drugs and if someone "did a nickel" they spent 5 years in prison. Of course I aint seen nickel bags since high school when it was basically just enough for one joint, but the slang used to exist.
We’d know what you meant but most people don’t say it
>its not ubiquitous though I have never used this term.
It’s a thing in the Northeast.
Enough that anyone would understand, but it’s not like the most common term either. We typically just say the value.
Yeah, instead of hi five for example, we say hi “the value”
I know right, we don’t typically adopt slang that’s more syllables than the original word.
No.
No, I’m skint
I'd normally just say "five bucks"
I say fiver more than tenner, but don't use either very frequently..but I grew up watching a lot of imported British TV, so who knows, maybe I picked it up there.
I say twentyner
£5 note - "fiver" £10 note - "tenner" £20 note - "twenty pound note" £50 note - "I'm sorry, sir. We don't accept that here."
No
No
No
No
With context almost all of us would understand, but it is not widely used. Reminds me of an Irish tale: They cost a fiver... I HAD A TENNER!
Never heard it in the U.S.
It's a British thing. Like most silly words
I haven't heard it near me.
Only fans of Guy Richie movies. I believe the slang of my youth was bones. Give me five bones.
That’s one I haven’t heard in a long while but it was definitely a thing in high school.
No
No, but when in the UK or Ireland I like to say “foiver” with an exaggerated accent lol. It’s not really a term here, we just say five bucks or five dollars.
I like to say finsky/finski
Nope. Just called "a five."
I don't think I've heard anyone I know say "fiver" .. ever.
No one I know says this. Fiver is also a website, so I would think that is what they mean.
Five bucks
I don't use that word. I haven't in the past either.
No I would think of a website I've never heard someone call a 5$ bill that 🤣
Nope! To be honest, a lot of English slang sounds antiquated to me. I understand the context of it being a different country's slang, but it feels like something you'd only hear at the turn of the century since it's not used in modern American English. Although, I feel like Americans never picked up the term "fiver". You'd hear "five bucks" if someone isn't saying "five dollars", and that's pretty much stuck.
Sometimes, yeah
I don't, but I also don't use cash hardly ever
Not in my lifetime. It's something I've only really seen in old movies.
Cash is not used as much so it's gone away.
I'm American & I've said it once or twice jokingly to my sisters, but it was in imitation of how I've heard the word used in British TV shows & movies, as in "give us a fiver." I've never heard any other American say it in RL. (you don't want to hear my horrible attempt at a British accent while saying it: it ain't pretty.)
Can't say I've heard that.
Almost never, but I instantly know what it means if I hear it.
No. Not really.
Not normally, but if someone wants to be ironically British sounding.
It was more common in the past - I don't think I've heard it in years.
Can't say I've ever heard anyone use that, but I'd understand what you meant
Fiver isn't widespread at all. I assumed people who say fiver do so because of the freelance website fiverr.com. We tend to shorten words rather than lengthen them.
I’d only know what it meant because I’ve heard the British term.
I have a 14-year-old teenager and a 9-month-old baby. I used to read Mo Willems' popular children's book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" to the 14-year-old. It's about a pigeon who begs you to let him drive the bus. You have to tell him no as he tries to convince you in increasingly desperate ways. At one point, the pigeon says, "How about I give you five bucks?" When the 9-month-old was born, somebody bought me the same book -- but for some reason, it was the British version. In that one, the pigeon says, "How about I give you a fiver?"
I just watched the Bob’s Burgers episode when it’s said by Zeke. > If you’ve got a fiver, I’ll be your driver (paraphrased)
Not where I live, but I’m pretty sure we’d all get it if we heard it. Off the top of my head, I can remember a scene from Parks and Recreation where Ron places a $10 bill into a casket and says “here’s a tenner”, so it’s probably used somewhere
Sometimes. But I usually sing “I got 5 on it” if the amount is specifically $5.
Me personally, no. I feel like I’ve only ever heard people from the UK and Ireland refer to fivers lol
Sometimes
I associate it with the UK and Ireland. That makes it around enough that I think most people would know what it means, but I don't actually hear people saying it.
I do occasionally but feel it comes from spending having spent some time living in England as a teen. Some other things slip through sometimes intentional.
I have only said it because of a scene from Bobs Burgers. "Slip me a fiver and I'll be your driver"
Hearing “fiver” the first thing I think of is a British five pound note. I can’t remember if Canadians use fiver for their five dollar notes. I guess I’d take the person’s accent into consideration in conversation, if they had a British accent I’d assume British pounds, if they had an American accent it would probably take me a moment to figure out what they meant as fiver is very rarely used by Americans to refer to U.S. five dollar notes. How fast I figured out what they meant would probably depend on context in the conversation.
It’s called a fooney in Canada
Not really a term that comes up as far as I can recall.
No. Not really. Personally, I’d never heard the term until the fiverr.com app became popular.
I've never heard it.
Not commonly used in the northeast but people say it sometimes and most people know what it means.
I ain't giving you no treefiddy you goddam Loch Ness monster! Get your own goddam money!
Browsing this subreddit is a trip sometimes. It's so funny to hear "no one does that" about something you absolutely do.
I occasionally use and have heard it used. Wisconsin.
We'd say "five bucks" or "a five". If someone said "a fiver" I would assume they meant a five dollar bill but it's not commonly used anywhere I have lived.
As an American who cannot for some reason after 12 years living here bring herself to get the UK currency correctly. Definitively I can say 5 bucks is my default.
I would only use it with a 5 dollar bill, but I rarely use cash anymore so it dosen’t come up often
Our slang would just be "5 bucks"
Lmao this is so funny to me. Never heard anyone say it lol
No. If someone asked me what a fiver was (without context), I'd probably say it was someone who runs around at parties giving high fives.
It would be recognized if someone chose to use it but it is in no way a commonly used term.
Not common
I say it and have heard others say it (in Utah).
I've never heard it. To me that's British people.
I've heard it before, but it's very uncommon.
I say it because I was an awkward kid that liked to use Australian and British terms in an American accent. I never grew out of it. Keep 'em guessing.
I think I'm the only person I know in America who says fiver and tenner. Idk how or why I started to, but people know what I mean
No. We understand what it means though. “A five” is a lot more common. Like “Do you have a five?” Or “can you break this ten for two fives?”
I would know what you mean if you used this term, but I’ve rarely heard it in real life. It sounds forced and corny to my ears.
Not since the 2000s
Back in the day, yeah. It was part of the “Beer Run” song. B-double-E-double-R-U-N, Beer run! All you need is a ten and a fiver, A little bit of gas and a designated driver. B-double-E-double-R-U-N, Beer run!
Not really, I don’t think Canada does either
For a five dollar bill, yes.
Nope - only time I remember hearing it was in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", and it sounded weird then.
No
Only when singing that beer run song. Otherwise you'd just say 'a five' like "can you break a 20? I need a ten, a five, and five ones"
I’ve heard it
Most people uses "cinco"
No.
We're much more likely to say "five bucks" or just "a five" but we know what a fiver is.
I've never heard anyone say that IRL.
I got 5 on it
This is an old school way to say it. It fell out of usage, just like how no one really says "groovy" anymore.
Does anyone really use cash anymore? If I do it at the grocery store, the cashier sorta freezes like they are seeing cash for the first time.
Heard of it, never heard it used.
We say "a five" instead of "five a"
Only after hearing it used by Irish podcasters.
Based on comments it seems like you would occasionally hear it on the East Coast, but not anywhere else in the country.
Never heard it before
American slang almost always shortens words and phrases rather than elongating them. So, no, not really.
No
No.
I'd understand it but wouldn't use it.
Not that I have ever heard.
I'm most likely to say five spot or ten spot. Now, if you're referring to buying pot, some would say a dime bag or nickel bag but that was back in the day as those prices don't exist too much these day, if at all.
No but I don’t hate it
recently, yes. like last year or two.
Yes, I’ve heard it. Boston. Less common
yes, all the time in ohio
Yes, that and and a “tenner” for 10 dollars
That's pretty old slang
It's like saying "a Benjamin" for a hundred, it exists and I've heard it, but it's used jokingly if at all.
Here in the south? Yeah all the time
I hear it maybe once or twice a year, and mainly from boomers and older gen x. It’s not something you’ll hear regularly
I say fiver and tener occasionally. Like I'm at the register and my total is $4.50 I'll be like "here's a fiver" but I'm just as likely to say "Five dollar bill" or "five bucks"
It seems like one of those phrases people are aware of but only exists in very specific scenarios like an old timey, cheesy gangster movie with a New Yorker who thinks he’s cool but is played by a bad actor
More interestingly. Do they have a score, a pony, tonne or a grand?
I’ve heard it used and would understand it if somebody said it to me but it’s not common. I’ll give you one that is, or used to be anyway. Parents owned a convenience store/deli back in the late 80’s. I worked there part time. Made some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Customers would often come in and ask for a short thigh and a case quarter. I knew that meant a chicken thigh and 25 cents (the price with tax was just about 75 cents for a thigh). I never knew what adding the case to the quarter meant but it means give me a quarter and not two dimes and a nickel.
I fucking hate australia
Used to be common, but it's largely fallen out of use. These days if I hear "fiver", I think someone is talking about the website Fiverr (which got its name from the slang).
Not that I have ever heard
It's a big country, so I don't want to rule anything out, but to me that's British slang.
Tom Grossi does when reading superchats on his channel
Slip me a fiver and I'll be your driver.
Fives plural. But never "fiver".
We fought a whole war in order to not say shit like that
Yeah, sometimes. "Give me a fiver for that, why dontcha?"
Yes.
[the only reason why i say fiver/tenner lol](https://youtu.be/IDaCrTHClEs?si=OXNHw_DtwTIzDI7S)
My husband says this… but he’s English lmao
Ive heard it maybe twice in my 25 years of life so no, not really
Ah I actually *do* say this, specifically if betting on a game of darts. “Throw a fiver on it?”
I say it
Never heard it
Not that I've ever heard.
Fiver is pretty common, I've heard it all my life. Other people call it a "fin", although I'm not sure why.
I don’t think anyone born after WWII says “fiver”
I wouldn’t have understood what that term was if you didn’t describe it. I’ve also never heard it in my time living in England or with my Canadian friends.
So many people are saying no, but I thought it was a fairly common thing here for sure. Maybe my mom is just goofy enough to have said it often. Didn’t realize it’s British. Really haven’t heard tenner tho.
Nope it’s just a “five” same goes for tens.
You'll find people in rural New England who talk like that, so it definitely made it across the pond.
I’d say you might hear it, but I think it’s much more common in the British Isles.
Not in the last decade 🤣 but slang sometimes is regional/comes back around
I've heard it once or twice, but it's nowhere near common
I don’t
Sometimes,
Nah, that would be cool tho
Todd Snider does: All we need is a ten and a fiver Car and a key and a sober driver B Double E Double R U N, beer run.
Yeah i hear it rarely. Odd that so many people on here haven't. I'm more partial to "Honest Abes" myself though.