take the shilling
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
A reference to the practice during the 18th and 19th century of a recruiting officer getting a person to enlist in the British Army or Royal Navy by accepting (or being tricked into accepting) a shilling, which was then a soldier’s daily pay.[1] The practice was officially ended in 1879.[2]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /teɪk ðə ˈʃɪlɪŋ/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪlɪŋ
- Hyphenation: take the shil‧ling
Verb[edit]
take the shilling (third-person singular simple present takes the shilling, present participle taking the shilling, simple past took the shilling, past participle taken the shilling) (intransitive)
- (British, military, historical) To enlist as a soldier in the British army or navy by accepting a shilling from a recruiting officer.
- 1852, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Mohun Appears for the Last Time in This History”, in The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. […] , volume III, London: […] Smith, Elder, & Company, […], →OCLC, page 135:
- [O]ne fellow was jilted by his miſtreſs and took the ſhilling in deſpair; […]
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Strife in Love”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part II, page 182:
- I have taken the King's shilling, but perhaps if you came for me they would let me go back with you. I was a fool when I did it. I don't want to be in the army.
- (by extension)
- (military, dated) To enlist as a soldier of any military force; to join the armed forces.
- (generally) To be on the payroll of an organization; to work for an organization.
- 2020 June 17, Christian Wolmar, “The Strategy of ‘Don’t Use the Railways’ Must be Reversed …”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 44:
- My earlier warnings, both in RAIL and in an article I wrote for The Times, have not fallen on deaf ears. There are many people (I suspect most) in the [rail] industry who recognise that telling people not to use their trains will cause lasting damage, but they are silenced publicly because they are now taking the Government's shilling.
Usage notes[edit]
In the context of the United Kingdom, sense 1 is also used in the form to take the King’s shilling or to take the Queen’s shilling depending on whether the monarch is a king or queen.
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to enlist as a soldier of any military force — see enlist
to be on the payroll of an organization
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See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ “History Trails: Wars and Conflict: The King’s Shilling”, in BBC[1], 2005 January 28, archived from the original on 2023-06-28.
- ^ “Beyond the Broadcast: Making History: Taking the King’s Shilling”, in BBC[2], 2005 March 15, archived from the original on 2005-03-15.
Further reading[edit]
- King’s shilling on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “to take the shilling, to take the King’s (or Queen’s) shilling” under “shilling, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.
- “take the King’s shilling, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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