Ever heard the term bid meaning a prison sentence ?

Where did you see/hear it and what do you take it to mean ?

Also tell me what nationality you are so I get an idea where this may have originated from.

I've been reading some 70's 'noir' fiction and it pops up occasionally in the writing but my research suggests it might be more likely to be a mispronounced version of 'bit'.

I'll explain what that's about in a while.

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Missbirdie1986 · 36-40, F

At an auction few weeks ago we went to an auction for my sister but she didn’t bid because it was out of her price range

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Missbirdie1986 that meaning understood.
The meaning I'm referring to is a word used to describe prison time

hunkalove · 61-69, M

What have you been reading? I write noir fiction. Never heard "bid" before.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@hunkalove off the top of my head i know it appears in some Elmore Leonard works

JaggedLittlePill · 46-50, F

the term "bid" to refer to a prison sentence?...just want to clarify

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@JaggedLittlePill Yes. Id read it several times in (what we euphemistically used to call 'Blaxploitation') novels.
And more recently heard in some Blues '78rpm's I've recently bought.
So I was trying to uncover the original source.

JaggedLittlePill · 46-50, F

interesting forum

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/67493/origin-of-slang-doing-a-bid-for-prison-time

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@JaggedLittlePill Yeah i went through all the Reddit/Stacked exchange/Google/YouTube forum stuff.
Which is what i meant by will say more later.

It sounded like a misinterpretation of something like a Cockney-Rhyming-Slang term which Americans had tried to purloin as something they 'created'.

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