Cable (or the cable) is a foreign exchange term used for the GBP/USD currency pair rate (British pound priced in US dollars). The term cable is a slang term used by forex traders to refer to the exchange rate between the pound and dollar and is also used to simply refer to the British pound itself. The term originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and British pound began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable. Since that time the exchange rate has been referred to as the cable.