King's shilling
- noun
- Archaic
:
moneda del Rey
- Many young men found themselves in the army after accepting the King's shilling in a local tavern.
Examples
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Once you had the King's shilling in your pocket, turning back was no longer an option.
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The King's shilling symbolizes loyalty to the Crown.
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In those days, taking the King's shilling meant a binding commitment to serve.
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He received a King's shilling upon joining the army.
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In those days, taking the King's shilling meant a binding commitment to serve.
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Many young men found themselves in the army after accepting the King's shilling in a local tavern.
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Once you had the King's shilling in your pocket, turning back was no longer an option.
Surface Forms
Morphology
King's + shilling
A learner who knows 'king' and 'shilling' can transparently infer a coin associated with the king (a royal or government coin), so part of the meaning is compositional. However, the specific historical/pragmatic sense — that this coin was given as an enlistment token symbolizing acceptance of military service — depends on cultural/historical knowledge and is not derivable from the words alone, making the expression only partly predictable.
Etymology
King's shilling may come from the old practice of army recruiters giving a small coin to new soldiers as a sign of enlistment; the recruiter might even slip a shilling into a man's hand or pocket in a tavern so the man was seen as having agreed to serve, so taking the coin meant 'to join the army' and showed a promise of loyalty to the king.
