Etymology tree
English ben(zedrine)
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English benny
From ben(zedrine) + -y.
Meanings
(plural-normally, slang) An amphetamine tablet.
“Whatchu got, man?” / “Reds, bennies, dexies, yellow jackets, demmies.” / “Yeah, demmies're good shit, man. I pay you. Fuck. I got money. I'm hurting inside. Got beat up. Where my money?” 1998, Jeffery Deaver, The Coffin Dancer, New York, NY: Pocket Books, published 2021, →ISBN, page 285:
I've pitched pennies and downed bennies 1973, “Sport”, in Hustler's Convention, performed by Lightnin' Rod:
That night Marylou took everything in the books; she took tea, goofballs, benny, liquor, and even asked Old Bull for a shot of M, which of course he didn’t give her; he did give her a martini. 1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC:
Etymology tree
English ben(zedrine)
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English benny
From ben(zedrine) + -y.
Meanings
(slang, usually, with "up") To take amphetamines.
He had been on the road that long and so bennied up. 1980, Commercial motor carrier safety: hearing before the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation:
Bulldog's habit of "bennying up" for the ball games had become a humorous item among the players. 1963, Joe Grosscup, Fourth and One: By Lee Grosscup, page 268:
"If you guys got any brains," the tired and bennied driver said, "you'll keep your sweet fannies t'hell out of it. 2003, Jack Cady, Ghosts of Yesterday, →ISBN, page 104:
'Like I told the police, I think she's just having a benny.' 2010, Ian Sansom, The Bad Book Affair:
BTW, you might like to see what happens to CM00-01 when one of your sticks of memory decides to have a benny: 2001, Neil Davey, “Sacked Referees”, in alt.games.champ-man (Usenet):
"Stop having a benny, Liam." Gwen was getting agitated. Liam was failing miserably at his attempts to get Casey to back down. 2011, Kate Morgan, Wicked Games, page 34:
(US, alt-of, slang) Alternative letter-case form of Benny (“one-hundred-dollar bill”).
Life in the bush was generally a bummer, an adverse experience, which was only rarely broken by the bennies, benefits like warm beer and letters from the World, the United States. 1984, Charles Robert Anderson, The Grunts, Berkley Books, →ISBN, page xviii:
A "benny" of being curious and continuing to learn and grow is that you […] 2004, Mary Foley, Bodac!ous woman: outrageously in charge of your life and lovin' it!, page 100:
A benny of using an older modem is that it usually includes a good manual on the AT command set. 2001, Scott Edwards, Programming and Customizing the Basic Stamp Computer, page 158:
After depositing the larger items at the post office for the free ride home (a benny of being overseas: free mail), we headed back to the plane. 2000, Approach, volume 45, number 5, page 22:
Unknown or disputed. Attested from the late 19th century. Possibly from benjamin, slang from the early 19th century for a type of greatcoat. Possibly in reference to Uncle Benny or Uncle Ben (“a pawnbroker”), who might accept coats during the warm summer months, though the latter slang term does not appear to be attested before 1920.
Meanings
(dated, slang) An overcoat.
Horse-hide coats are common, but real "honest t' God" fur bennies are very, very scarce. 1931, The Tomahawk of Alpha Sigma Phi, volume 28, number 1, page 12:
[…] and figuring on where the engraved papers were going to come from that 'ud enable me to yank one of the bennies out of the eaves. Nobody ever saw me without an overcoat, and the right kind of an overcoat, […] 1902, Clarence Louis Cullen, More Ex-Tank Tales, page 32:
I'll stand clost and keep my blue fingers inside your nice fur coat[…]I'll bet this benny cost a nice piece of change. 1924 July 14 [1923 August 14], Samuel Badisch Ornitz, “Sixth Period”, in Haunch Paunch and Jowl, eighth printing, New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, section I, page 266:
(US, obsolete, slang) A straw hat.
If lil ole Souttland is goin’ to keep her dome up in the golf department, an’ I tip my benny to her right now, she must put the kibosh on gin-hoisting an’ lay a stymie to every saloon. 1923, Owen Seaman, editor, Punch, volume 165, page 514:
Buffet fans can brunch until your heart's content at Westin Bayshore’s H2 Rotisserie & Bar, where the daily breakfast buffet features free-range eggs cooked to order, bennies, pancakes, waffles, smoked bacon, sausage links, seasonal fruit, freshly made pastries, and much more. 2019 June 26, Amy Watkins, “Top 15 Brunch Spots in Vancouver, BC”, in Trip Savvy, archived from the original on 27 Jul 2019: