shilling shocker
Preserved but no longer current.
See PENNY DREADFUL. To be cut off with a shilling. See Cur. To take the Queen's (or King's) shilling. To enlist; in allusion to the former practice of giving each recruit a shilling when he was sworn in.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “shilling shocker” mean?
See PENNY DREADFUL. To be cut off with a shilling. See Cur. To take the Queen's (or King's) shilling. To enlist; in allusion to the former practice of giving each recruit a shilling when he was sworn in.
Is “shilling shocker” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.