good-for, noun

Plurals:
good-fors, occasionally unchanged.
Origin:
EnglishShow more From English good for drawn and valid for (of a promissory note).
historical
An IOU, a promissory note. Also attributive.
1821 G. Barker Journal. 29 Nov.Spent the whole morning collecting money, got all the good fors cashed.
1822 Prohibition of Promissory Notes under Fifty Rixdollars in Stat. Law of Cape of G.H. (1862) 64Various notes, bills of exchange, and drafts for money, for very small sums, under the appellation of ‘good-fors,’ have been..circulated and negotiated in the frontier districts of this settlement.
1832 Graham’s Town Jrnl 4 May 75The Messenger proved that he had told defendant, that his Good For was ceded, and had shown him the words ‘pay to bearer’ written on the back.
a1862 J. Ayliff Jrnl of ‘Harry Hastings’ (1963) 82All was barter, or to receive what were called good-fors, a kind of paper money which the merchants had the power of issuing.
1866 Cape Town Dir. 86No ‘good for,’ ‘IOU,’ or other acknowledgement of debt, not being a promissory note, shall require to be stamped, so long as it shall be retained by the creditor to whom it was first delivered, and it may be paid by the debtor to such creditor without being stamped.
1879 R.J. Atcherley Trip to Boërland 232These ‘good fors’, which answer to an English IOU, are common enough in South Africa, and, if backed by good names, circulate pretty freely.
1882 H. Rider Haggard Cetywayo 133As there was no cash in the country this was done by issuing Government promissory notes, known as ‘goodfors’.
1897 J.P. Fitzpatrick Outspan 77The Pretoria tradesmen..would no longer accept ‘good fors’ of even a few shillings value.
1903 D. Blackburn Burgher Quixote 152Those that have no money to pay have given ‘good-fors’.
1940 F.B. Young City of Gold 180He drove his wagon to Headquarters..and received a written acknowledgment, one of those ‘good-fors’ which had lately become the chief currency of the Transvaal Government.
1960 J.J.L. Sisson S. Afr. Judicial Dict. 326Good for, a popular and brief form of an acknowledgment of debt. It is not normally a negotiable instrument.
1972 A. Scholefield Wild Dog Running 100Normally the watch would have gone in straight barter for goods or for a kind of paper money which the merchants issued, called ‘good-fors’.
1983 S. Afr. Panorama May 25In January and February, 1900, ‘good-for’ vouchers with face values of one shilling, two shillings, and three shillings, were released for circulation in the besieged town.
1989 Reader’s Digest Illust. Hist. of S. Afr. 149In 1865, in a new bid to bail the republic out of its financial difficulties, the government decided to print paper money...But the currency was so worthless that it was rejected even by state officials, who..chose rather to pay with credit notes called ‘good-fors’.
An IOU, a promissory note. Also attributive.
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