Short word for money

Few things get more attention it seems than money. People use it every day—sometimes multiple times a day.

People plan where they live around money, where they travel around money, where they work around money, and where they retire around money.

Since money is an essential tool that most people cannot live without, it has developed a rich and colorful bank of slang terms in which to be described.

Who says writing about money has to be boring? Finance, currency, legal tender? Incorporate some change into your financial writing.

What is slang for money? Here is a list of 80+ slang terms for money. Some of the terms are similar to each other; some are even derivatives of each other, but they all relate back to money.

This is not an exhaustive list. I’m sure there are some terms I missed, and I’m sure more terms will be coined in the years to come. In any event, this is a fun list to get your brains rolling.

Slang for Money List:

1. Bacon: Money in general; bring home the bacon.
2. Bands: Paper money held together by a rubber band. Usually $10,000 or more.
3. Bank: Money; Obviously related to banks that hold money.
4. Bankrolls: Roll of paper money.
5. Benjamins: Reference to Benjamin Franklin, whose portrait is on the one hundred dollar bill.
6. Big bucks: Large amounts of money; generally used in reference to payment or employment compensation.
7. Bills: A banknote; piece of paper money.
8. Biscuits: Money in general; origin unknown.
9. Bisquick: Money in general; origin unknown.
10. Blue cheese: Reference to the new U.S. 100-dollar bill introduced in 2009, which has a blue hue to it.
11. Blue cheddar: See blue cheese.
12. Bookoo bucks: See big bucks.
13. Bones: Dollars (origin unknown).
14. Bread: Money in general. The analogy being that bread is a staple of life. Food is a common theme for slang money terms.
15. Brick: A bundled or shrink-wrapped amount of money, usually in amounts of $1,000 or $10,000. A reference to the rectangular shape that looks like a brick.
16. Broccoli: Paper money, reference to its color.
17. Buckaroos: Money in general.
18. Bucks: Dollars; Thought to be a reference to deer skins used for trading.
19. C-note: One hundred dollars; a reference to the Roman Numeral for 100.
20. Cabbage: Paper money. In reference to the color of U.S. currency.
21. Cake: Money in general; similar to bread and dough.
22. Cash: Money in general.
23. Cash money: see cash.
24. Cheese: Money in general (origin unknown).
25. Cheddar: Money in general (origin unknown).
26. Chits: Money in general; originally a signed note for money owed for food, drink, etc.
27. Chips: Money in general; reference to poker chips.
28. Chump change: A small amount of money.
29. Clams: Money in general; Possible origin is thought to be clamshells that were once used as a form of currency by Native American Indians in California.
30. Coin: Money in general, paper or coin.
31. Commas: Money in general, reference to increasing amounts of money; moving from one comma to two commas as in from 10,000 to 1,000,000.
32. CREAM: Acronym meaning “cash rules everything around me.”
33. Dead presidents: Paper money; a reference to the presidential portraits that most U.S. currency adorns.
34. Dinero: Money in general; originally the currency of the Christian states of Spain.
35. Dime: Another reference to coin, specifically the dime.
36. Doubloons: Money in general; reference to gold doubloons.
37. Dough: Money in general (origin unknown).
38. Fetti: Money in general; originates from feria, the Spanish term for money.
39. Five-spot: Five-dollar bill.
40. Fivers: Five dollar bills.
41. Franklins: Hundred dollar bills. Benjamin Franklin is one the U.S. hundred dollar bill.
42. Frog: $50 bill in horse racing.
43. Frog skins: Money in general.
44. Gold: Money in general; reference to gold as being a tangible product for thousands of years.
45. Green: Paper money, referencing its color.
46. Greenbacks: Paper money; Greenbacks were U.S. current in the Civil War.
47. Gs: Shorthand term for “grand,” which is a thousand dollars.
48. Grand: One thousand dollars. In the early 1900s, one thousand dollars was thought to be a “grand” sum of money, hence grand.
49. Guac: Money in general; reference to guacamole’s green appearance.
50. Guineas: A coin minted in England from 1663-1813.
51. Gwop: Money in general.
52. Half-yard: Fifty dollars.
53. Hundies: Hundred dollar bills.
54. Jacksons: Twenty dollar bills. Andrew Jackson is one the U.S. twenty dollar bill.
55. Knots: A wad of paper money.
56. Large: Similar use as “grand.” Twenty large would be the same as saying twenty grand.
57. Lincolns: Five dollar bills. Abraham Lincoln is one the U.S. five dollar bill.
58. Long green: Paper money, from its shape and color.
59. Lolly: Money in general; origin unknown.
60. Loot: Large sum of money; originally money received from stolen plunder or other illicit means.
61. Lucci: Money in general; loot; possibly stemming from term lucre.
62. Lucre: Money that has been acquired through ill-gotten means.
63. Mega bucks: See big bucks.
64. Monkey: British slang for 500 pounds sterling; originates from soldiers returning from India, where the 500 rupee note had a picture of a monkey on it.
65. Moola: Money in general (origin unknown) Also spelled moolah.
66. Notes: Money in general; reference to banknotes from a bank.
67. Nugget: Referencing gold, but a general term for money of any kind.
68. OPM: Other people’s money; accounting term.
69. Paper: Paper bills of any kind.
70. Payola: Money in general, specifically money earned as compensation for labor; a paycheck.
71. Pesos: Money in general; Pesos are the official currency of Mexico.
72. Plunder: Stolen money.
73. Quid: One pound (100 pence) in British currency.
74. Rack: Synonym for dollars when talking about thousands. Five thousand racks. Ten racks.
75. Rock: Million dollars
76. Roll: Shortened term for bankroll.
77. Sawbuck: Ten-dollar bill. Originated from a sawbuck device, which is a device for holding wood to be cut into pieces. Its shape is that of an “X” form at each end, which are joined by cross bars below the intersections of the X’s. The “X” shape resembles the Roman Numeral for ten, hence sawbuck.
78. Scratch: Money in general (origin unknown).
79. Scrilla: Money in general (Possibly formed from analogy to another slang money term: paper. Paper once came in the form of a scroll. Scroll became scrilla.).
80. Shekels: Money in general (biblical currency; also modern day currency of Israel).
81. Singles: Single one-dollar bills.
82. Smackers: Dollars (origin unknown).
83. Stacks: Multiples of one thousand dollars.
84. Ten-spot: Ten-dollar bill.
85. Tenners: Ten-dollar bills.
86. Turkey: Money in general; sometimes referred to in the phrase let’s talk turkey.
87. Wad: Large sum of money; usually a bundled sum carried in your pockets.
88. Wonga: English Romany word for money.
89. Yard: One hundred dollars.

Summary: Slang for Cash

I hope some of these other words for money were new to you. As I mentioned above, this list is obviously not exhaustive. People will be finding new ways in which to describe money until the end of time.

Until then, I will be here documenting them as they appear on the literary scene.

If you see any easy terms that I missed in my list, tweet me at @Writing_Class, and I will add them to the list.

“It’s all about the Benjamins,” sang Puff Daddy. But despite what you may have mistakenly thought, the legendary American rapper wasn’t singing about a good friend named Ben. Nope. Sean John Combs, a.k.a P. Diddy, was kindly explaining a simple truth about our capitalist society: It’s all about the money.

Actually, money is so important that people came up with dozens of ways to talk about it throughout the ages. Emerging in the US, the UK or elsewhere, slang words for money became a huge part of the language we use. But how well do you know them?

Well, luckily for you, we’ve listed the most common nicknames for money to add a playful element to your conversation, your eCommerce website, your news article, the dialogues of your novels—and of course, your next rap hit. Here are 100 slang words and terms for money:

01. Bacon

Perhaps because it is so beloved, money is often referred to as this breakfast treat. Most commonly used as part of the phrase “bring[ing] home the bacon”.

02. Bank

The connection between bank and money needs no explanation. Use it to gossip about your friend’s salary increase: “Since he started working at the bank, Benjamin’s been making bank.”

03. Bankroll

Meant literally to supply money, it can also be used to refer to money itself, like: “I need some bankroll to get my bread business off the ground.”

04. Bean

An archaic term for a dollar; it’s not commonly used any more.

05. Benjamins

This one we covered above. The name references the appearance of founding father Benjamin Franklin on the one-hundred-dollar bill.

06. Benji

A nickname for our dear friend whose mug appears on the $100 bill.

07. Big ones

Like “grand” and “large”, which you’ll see below, each “big one” means $1,000. So if you’re buying a car for 10 big ones, you’re paying $10,000.

08. Bills

Another term with an obvious connection to money, this is most commonly used to refer to one-hundred-dollar bills.

09. Bones

Can be used in exchange for “dollars”, as in: “These grills cost 100 bones.”

10. Boodle

A term for shady cash, like counterfeit, stolen or bribe money.

11. Brass (UK)

This is a Northern British slang term for money, believed to have originated from the region’s scrap dealers scrounging for materials that were valuable, like brass. It’s related to the phrase “Where there’s muck, there’s brass.”

12. Bread

A synonym for food in general, this has meant money since at least the 19th century. Like bacon, it’s something you “bring in”: “She’s selling bread online in order to bring in the bread.”

13. Bucks

Perhaps the most commonly used slang term for dollars, it is believed to originate from early American colonists who would often trade deerskins, or buckskins.

14. C note

C equals 100 in the Roman numeral system and stands for the latin word centum, which means “a hundred” (and which also originated the word cent). Thus, a C note is a $100 bill.

15. Cabbage

When all those green bills are packed together, don’t they resemble cabbage? Ludacris thinks so: “Hustle real hard, gotta stack that cabbage / I’m addicted to money.”

16. Cake

Even better than bread or dough is a food that has icing and is served at parties.

17. Cash (or cash money)

Perhaps an obvious one, but still useful.

18. Capital

Not necessarily a slang term when employed in a business context, but can also be used as slang to refer to any kind of money, not just capital. Does that make cents? (See what I did there?)

19. Celery

Like cabbage and lettuce, this green veggie also means money. If you don’t believe me, take it from Jeezy, who boasts about a “pocket full of celery” in his 2009 hit “Put On” featuring Kanye West.

20. Cha-ching

It’s the best sound in the world to some—the cash register completing a sale. It’s also been used as a replacement term for money.

21. Chalupa

This mostly means a deliciously spicy Mexican taco, but is also slang for money.

22. Cheddar

If someone has the cheddar, it means they must be making bank.

23. Cheese

A nickname for money because Americans used to receive cheese as a welfare benefit.

24. Chips

A reference to poker chips, it now just means money.

25. Chump change

This refers to a small amount of money, like the amount of cash a chump would have.

26. Clams

Means “dollars”, as in: “Karen raised my rent by 100 clams.”

27. Cream

This is an acronym of “Cash Rules Everything Around Me” and was popularized by the Wu-Tang Clan in the 90s: “Cash rules everything around me / C.R.E.A.M. / Get the money / Dollar, dollar bill y’all.” The song encouraged listeners to not make the mistake of chasing money by selling drugs.

28. Coin

Looking to borrow money from a friend? Ask her: “Can I borrow some coin?”

29. Dead presidents

American currency acts as a who’s who of dead presidents. (Plus Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin, who were never presidents but appear on the $10 and $100 bills, respectively.) Use this term to let people know you’re no sell out, like Eminem.

30. Dime

In the US, a dime is the coin worth ten cents, but the term can be used to mean money or an expense in general. For example, if your employee is sitting on social media instead of working, you can dramatically exclaim: “Not on my dime!”

31. Dinero

Because who doesn’t love the sound of Spanish? Dinero is the Spanish word for “money” and was first popularized in the Old West as early as the mid-19th century.

32. Dollar dollar bill y’all

Okay, this one is mostly an excuse to link to this rap classic from 2009. You’re welcome.

33. Dosh (UK)

A British slang term for money.

34. Dough

Another very commonly used term for money, it’s been around for a while. It likely became common as a branch off from “bread”, but the Oxford Dictionary found the term used as early as 1851, in a Yale publication: “He thinks he will pick his way out of the Society’s embarrassments, provided he can get sufficient dough.”

35. Dubs (or doubles or double sawbuck)

This term means a twenty-dollar bill, so two dubs refers to 40 bucks.

36. Ducats

A gold or silver coin that was used in Europe, mostly in Venice, starting from the Middle Ages.

37. Ducketts

The very American pronunciation of the previous word is used to refer to poker chips—but also money.

38. Fetti

A gross mispronunciation of the Spanish word feria, which in Mexico is used to mean coins. But maybe the term is also the result of the confetti-like image of money pouring from the sky when someone “makes it rain”.

39. Figgas

A hip-hop term to describe the number of figures in an amount of money.

40. Fins

A slang term for five-dollar bills. The source is likely from the German/Yiddish word for five: German—Funf, Yiddish—Finnif.

41. Five spot

A five-dollar bill.

42. Fiver

Another term for the five-dollar bill, as in: “I make about a fiver on each t-shirt I sell.”

43. Folding stuff

This refers to the stuff that folds, i.e. paper money. “I can’t believe you spent so much folding stuff on that lemon of a car.”

44. Franklins

And once again, we are back to our friend Benjamin, who appears on that much-beloved one-hundred-dollar bill.

45. Frogskin

An archaic term for dollar bills, perhaps related to the term “greenback”.

46. Funds

“I’d plan a trip to Hawaii, but I got no funds.”

47. G

Short for “grand”, this refers to $1,000 dollars. Having five G in the bank shouldn’t cause you to worry about cellphone towers, but should result in a celebration for having “dollar dollar bill y’all”. (Not to confuse with G, which is also short for “gangster”, as in “Benjamin Franklin was a real G”.)

48. Gelt

A Yiddish term meaning “gold” and is most commonly used to refer to the money (chocolate or real) given by parents on the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

49. Gold

Does this need any explanation?

50. Gouda

Rapper E-40 coined this term for money in his hit “Gouda”. The slang king then goes on to explain the meaning by using many of the other terms listed here: “The definition of Gouda, what’s the definition? / Chalupa, scrilla, scratch, paper, yaper, capital…”

51. Grand

Refers to $1,000 since the mob coined the term (no pun intended) in the early 1900s. Back then $1,000 was a “grand” amount of money, and they wanted to be discreet.

52. Grant

A $50 bill, in reference to President Ulysses S. Grant, whose face is featured. (Speaking of Uly, did you know that the S doesn’t stand for anything?)

53. Grease

If you grease someone’s palm or someone’s pockets, it means you gave them some money, usually as a bribe.

54. Green

A reference to the color of American money. Can be used like in: “I’m all out of green, so I’ll pay you back next week.”

55. Greenbacks

A form of American currency printed in the Civil War. The front of the bill was printed in black while the back was printed in green.

56. Guap

Same pronunciation as gwop, this refers to a large amount of money.

57. Gwala

Another related term to guap and gwop that means a stack of cash, as in: “Grease his pockets with a little gwala.”

58. Gwop

This slang term for money is actually an acronym of “George Washington On Paper”—referring to the first US president, who appears on the one-dollar bill.

59. Hamilton

Even though he wasn’t a president, the Founding Father without a father got a lot farther by being on the ten-dollar bill.

60. Jackson

Not as expensive as a Franklin or a Benjamin, this refers to President Andrew Jackson who appears on the twenty-dollar bill.

61. K

Refers to the prefix kilo, i.e. one thousand. So 500K means $500,000.

62. Large

Similar to grand, this term also refers to $1,000.

63. Lettuce

Like cabbage and celery, this is an old slang term that means “money” or “currency”.

64. Long green

Another slang term for “cash” that references the color and shape of that dollar dollar bill y’all.

65. Loot

Referring to money, you can tell your customer to “Hand over the loot”—but you probably shouldn’t.

66. Lucci

An Italian sounding word that rappers like to use to talk about money, but it’s not Italian for anything so it’s unclear why. (Some people believe it’s slang for lucre.)

67. Lucre

Often used in the phrase filthy lucre to refer to a “shameful gain”, according to Merriam-Webster. While the term has taken on a slang-like connotation, it’s a legit word and is related to lucrative.

68. M

This one can actually be confusing. While M is the Roman numeral for a thousand, when used with money, it usually means a million. So $3M equals $3,000,000.

69. MM (or MN)

Many banks will use this to refer to millions of dollars.

70. Mil

This is another popular abbreviation of million, when talking dollars.

71. Moola (or moolah)

This is another age-old slang term for money, but nobody seems to really know where it originated. Merriam-Webster says the word was first used to mean money in 1936.

72. Nickel

The metal that makes up a crucial element of the Earth’s core is also used to make five-cent coins. Used as slang, this term can mean $5 or $500 worth of something—particularly when talking about gambling or drugs.

73. Nuggets

A term for money that probably refers to gold nuggets, but may as well refer to the many other valuable things that come in the form of nuggets: chicken, wisdom, truth, Denver’s basketball team, etc.

74. Ones

Means one-dollar bills. If you’re all out of ones, you’ll need to ask for change to buy a can of coke from the machine.

75. Paper

The material used to print that dollar dollar bill y’all. Chasin’ that paper is just a part of “living your life”, according to this 2008 classic by Rihanna and T.I.

76. Pesos

The official currency of Mexico can be used in American slang to refer to dollars as well.

78. Quid (UK)

The origin of this slang term for the British pound (or sterling) is uncertain, but it’s been around since the late 1600s, according to Merriam-Webster.

79. Rack

$1,000 or more in cash.

80. Resources

Use it to sound fancy but also street: “Ain’t got the resources to pay for that activity at the moment.”

81. Riches

An especially useful word to refer to money when you’re trying to sound like you have lots of it. Technically speaking, a gorgeous example of a synecdoche.

82. Salad

If lettuce, cabbage, celery and beans all mean money, you might as well put it all together and dress it.

83. Sawbucks

A ten-dollar bill. The source of this term comes from the sawhorse that resembles the Roman numeral X (for “10”) that was found on the back of the 10-dollar bill. The word then evolved to sawbuck because “buck” means “dollar”.

84. Scratch

This word has been used to mean money since the beginning of the 20th century, but we don’t seem to know why. Some believe it’s a reference to the phrase “starting from scratch” to imply that everything starts with money.

84. Shekels

A biblical currency that is also used presently in Israel. The word shekel is rooted in the Hebrew term for “weight”.

85. Simoleon

Slang for “dollar” associated with old-timey American gangsters.

86. Skrilla (or scrilla or scrill)

The origin of this term to mean money or cash is also unknown, but it was used in rap music starting in the 1990s.

87. Smackers

An East Coast way of saying dollars, especially if you’re a 60+ year-old man betting on a football game: “I’ll bet ya 100 smackers that the Jets find a way to lose this one.” It usually refers to enough cash to smack someone in the face with.

88. Spondulix

A 19th-century term for money, you can also spell it spondulicks, spondoolicks, spondulacks, spondulics, and spondoolics. Be really hip and refer to it as spondoolies.

89. Stacks

Similar to racks, this term also means $1,000. “I had to get my car fixed and it cost me 3 stacks.”

90. Stash

Refers mostly to money you have hidden away.

91. Tamales

Nobody really uses this term anymore, but it was a common term to mean dollars.

92. Ten spot

A ten-dollar bill.

93. Tender

From the longer (and more boring sounding) term legal tender.

94. Tenners

Ten-dollar bills, as in: “Can I get two tenners for one of these dubs?”

95. Treasure

This is an especially useful term for money if you’re a pirate.

96. Wad

A bunch of cash, enough that you can roll it up into a wad.

97. Wampum

Polished shells worn by Native Americans and sometimes used as a form of currency. The term was popular as slang for money for a while, but now is mostly used to refer to marijuana.

98. Wonga (UK)

A Romani word that means “coal”, which was another term used by Brits to refer to money.

99. Yaper

Usually refers to drug money.

100. Yard

Usually refers to $100, but apparently can also be used to mean $1 billion—just in case that’s an amount of money you and your friends chat about.

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I find very little about money to be interesting, other than counting my own, but I’ve noted that there’s a rich fund of slang terms for money that can help enliven both casual and more serious content about currency and finance. Here’s a roster of slang synonyms in plural form for words for US currency in particular, many of which are useful for playful references to money or as options for evoking a historical period in fiction by using contemporary idiom:

1. Bank: money
2. Benjamins: a one-hundred-dollar bill (in reference to the portrait of Benjamin Franklin that distinguishes it)
3. Big ones: multiples of one thousand dollars
4. Bills: multiples of one hundred dollars
5. Bones: dollars (origin unknown)
6. Bread: money in general (on the analogy of it being a staple of life)
7. Bucks: dollars (perhaps from a reference to buckskins, or deerskins, which were once used as currency)
8. Cabbage: paper money (from its color)
9. Cheddar (or chedda): money (origin unknown, but perhaps from the concept of cheese distributed by the government to welfare recipients)
10. Clams: dollars (perhaps from the onetime use of seashells as currency)
11. Coin: money, either paper or coinage
12-13. Cs (or C-notes): multiples of one hundred dollars (from the Roman symbol for “one hundred”)
14. Dead presidents: paper money (from the portraits of various former US presidents that usually distinguish bills of various denominations)
15. Dime: ten dollars (by multiplication of the value of the ten-cent coin)
16. Dough: money in general (akin to the usage of bread)
17-18. Doubles (or dubs): twenty-dollar bills
19. Ducats: money (from the Italian coin)
20. Fins: five-dollar bills (perhaps from the shared initial sound with fives)
21. Five-spots: five-dollar bills
22. Fivers: five-dollar bills
23. Folding stuff: paper money
24. Greenbacks: paper money (from the color of the ink)
25. Gs: thousand-dollar bills (an abbreviation for grand)
26. Grand: one thousand dollars (as in “three grand” for “three thousand dollars”)
27. Large: thousand-dollar bills
28. Lettuce: paper money (from its color)
29. Long green: paper money (from its shape and color)
30. Loot: money (originally denoted goods obtained illicitly or as the spoils of war)
31. Lucre: money or profit (from the biblical expression “filthy lucre,” meaning “ill-gained money”)
32. Moola (or moolah): money (origin unknown)
33. Nickel: five dollars (by multiplication of the value of the five-cent coin)
34. Ones: dollars (also, fives for “five-dollar bills,” tens for “ten-dollar bills,” and so on)
35. Quarter: twenty-five dollars (by multiplication of the value of the twenty-five-cent coin)
36. Sawbucks: ten-dollar bills (from the resemblance of X, the Roman symbol for ten, to a sawbuck, or sawhorse)
37. Scratch: money (perhaps from the idea that one has to struggle as if scratching the ground to obtain it)
38. Shekels: dollars (from the biblical currency)
39. Simoleons: dollars (perhaps from a combination of simon, slang for the British sixpence and later the American dollar, and napoleon, a form of French currency)
40. Singles: one-dollar bills
41. Skrilla: money (origin unknown)
42. Smackers: dollars (origin unknown)
43. Spondulix: money (either from spondylus, a Greek word for a shell once used as currency, or from the prefix spondylo-, which means “spine” or “vertebra”; these have a common etymology)
44. Stacks: multiples of a thousand dollars
45. Tenners: ten-dollar bills
46. Ten-spots: ten-dollar bills
47. Two bits: twenty-five cents (a reference to pieces of eight, divisible sections of a Mexican real, or dollar)
48. Wad: a bundle of paper money
49. Wampum: money (from the Native American term wampumpeag, referring to native currency)
50. Yards: one hundred dollars

There are, of course, many other terms, dated or current, including borrowings of foreign terms like dinero. What did I miss (or omit)?

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Slang terms for money often derive from the appearance and features of banknotes or coins, their values, historical associations or the units of currency concerned. Within a language community, some of the slang terms vary in social, ethnic, economic, and geographic strata but others have become the dominant way of referring to the currency and are regarded as mainstream, acceptable language (for example, «buck» for a dollar or similar currency in various nations including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria and the United States).

Australia[edit]

Current denominations[edit]

The five-cent coin is sometimes referred to as «shrapnel» as the smallest remaining coin in value and physical size. This nickname was inherited from one- and two-cent coins when they were abolished in 1996.^[1] Similarly related, as is also used in the United Kingdom, «fivers» and «tenners» are relatively common expressions for five and ten pounds, respectively.
«Beer tokens» can relate to any denomination or combination of. This is also in keeping with the reverse, in which «bottle tops» can be used as an expression of holding, offering, or having a low amount of money.

A twenty-dollar note is called a «lobster» or redback because of its red colour.^[2]

A fifty-dollar note is also known colloquially as a «pineapple» or the «Big Pineapple» because of its yellow colour.^[3]

The $100 note is currently green and is known colloquially as an «avocado» or «green tree frog»,^[4] but between 1984 and 1996 it was grey, and was called a grey nurse (a type of shark).^[5]

In a Simpsons episode set in Australia, one character used the term «dollarydoos» which was later the subject of a failed petition to formally change the name of the Australian dollar.^[6]

Former denominations[edit]

Pre-decimal currency in Australia had a variety of slang terms for its various denominations. The Australian threepence was referred to as a «trey» or a «trey bit», a name probably derived from old French meaning three. The sixpence was often referred to as a «zack», which was an Australian and New Zealander term referring to a coin of small denomination, probably derived from Zecchino. The term was also used to refer to short prison term such as six months. An Australian shilling, like its British counterpart, was commonly referred to as a «bob», and the florin was consequently known as «two bob». Similarly, one Australian pound was colloquially described as a «quid», «fiddly», or «saucepan», the latter as rhyming slang for «saucepan lid/quid». The five-pound note could be referred to as a «fiver», or its derivatives, «deep sea diver» and «sky diver».^{[citation needed]}

A number of post-decimal denominations which have since been discontinued had their own nicknames. The two-dollar note was known as the «sick sheep» in reference to its green colour and the merino ram that it showed. The paper (first and second series) hundred-dollar note was nicknamed the «grey ghost», «grey nurse», or the «Bradman» in recognition of its proximity to the 99.94 batting average of cricketer Donald Bradman.^{[citation needed]}

Canada[edit]

In Canada, the one-dollar coin is known as the loonie. This is because it bears an image of the common loon, a bird.

The two-dollar coin is known as the toonie, a portmanteau combining the number two with loonie. It is occasionally spelled twonie; Canadian newspapers and the Royal Canadian Mint use the toonie spelling.

Similar to the United States 5 cent coins are called nickle (due to the metal it was made of, but note the different spelling), 10 cent coins are dimes, 25 cent coins are quarters or two bits. Dollar amounts are all also referred to as bucks.

A five-dollar note is known colloquially as a fin, a fiver, half a sawbuck.

A ten-dollar note is known colloquially as a ten-spot, a dixie, a sawbuck, or a tenner.

A twenty-dollar note is known colloquially as QE2, or a Queen Sheet (after its portrait of Queen Elizabeth II).

A one hundred-dollar note is known colloquially as a C-Note, a Borden (after its portrait of Prime Minister Robert Borden), or a bill (e.g. $500 is 5 bills). $100.00 is also called an onion in gambling corners.^{[citation needed]}

Discontinued since 2000, the former one thousand-dollar notes were occasionally referred to as «pinkies», because of their distinctive colour.^[7]

Since Canadians and Americans both refer to their respective currencies as «the dollar», and because the two countries tend to mingle both socially and in the media, there is a lot of overlap in slang terms for money. However, this usually only extends to terms that are not specific to one country or the other. For example, both Canadians and Americans refer to a $100 note as a C-note, but an American might refer to it as a Benjamin, after its portrait of Benjamin Franklin, while a Canadian might refer to it as a Borden, after its portrait of Robert Borden.

In Canadian French, dollar amounts are often referred to as piasses in the same way that an English speaker would use the words «buck» or «bucks» in informal settings. The word piasse is derived from the word piastre.

Czech Republic[edit]

Coins and banknotes are referred to as:
5 CZK coin is called bur
10 CZK coin is called pětka
100 CZK note is called kilo (reference to kilogram – weight unit)
500 CZK note is pětibába (reference to baba = woman on its face and pet = five)
1000 CZK note is litr (reference to litre – volume unit)
milion CZK is mega (obvious 10^6 SI unit prefix)
If someone has a large amount of money, but the exact amount is not known, people say je ve vatě («he is in cotton wool») or je v balíku («he’s in a package»).

Eurozone[edit]

Since its introduction in 1999, a number of slang terms for the euro have emerged, though differences between languages mean that they are not common across the whole of the eurozone. Some terms are inherited from the legacy currencies, such as quid from the Irish pound and various translations of fiver or tenner being used for notes. The German Teuro is a play on the word teuer, meaning ‘expensive’. The Deutsche Mark by comparison was approximately worth half as much as the euro (at a ratio of 1.95583:1) and some grocers and restaurants have been accused of taking advantage of the smaller numbers to increase their actual prices with the changeover by rounding to 2:1, in Portugal the same has happened and usually use the term «Aéreo» with the meaning of «Aéreal», the currency that flies away. In Flanders the lower value copper coins are known as koper (copper) or rosse (~ginger, referring to the colour). Ege in Finland and Pavo (which is the usual Spanish translation of buck on movies or TV shows when it refers to dollars) in Spain are also terms applied to the euro.

India[edit]

In India slang names for coins are more common than the currency notes. For 5 paisa (100 paisa is equal to 1 Indian rupee) it is panji. A 10 paisa coin is called dassi and for 20 paisa it is bissi. A 25 paisa coin is called chavanni (equal to 4 annas) and 50 paisa is athanni (8 annas). However, in recent years, due to inflation, the use of these small value coins has declined, and so has the use of these slang terms. The more prevalent terms now (particularly in Mumbai and in Bollywood movies) are peti for a Lakh (Rs. 100,000) and khokha for a Crore (Rs. 10,000,000) and tijori for 100 crores (Rs. 1,000,000,000). Peti also means «suitcase», which is the volume needed to carry a Lakh of currency notes. Tijori means a large safe or a cupboard, which would be the approximate space required to store that money in cash form. Because of the real estate boom in recent times, businessmen also use the terms ‘2CR’ or ‘3CR’ referring to two crores and three crores respectively.

Argentina[edit]

In Argentina, among the years and despite many devaluation milestones, the lunfardo managed to persist in time some special nicknames to certain amount of money, not because color or type of the bill but to different meanings and uses.

Senior people above 65 now (previous to baby-boomer generation) used to call «guita» to the coins of low denomination of cents (‘centavos’), like 2, 5 or 10 cent coins. So «10 guita» meant 10 cents of peso. Today the cents are still legal but non-existent. The word «guita» in lunfardo is synonym for «money».

During the short period of the «Austral» which replaced the traditional «Peso» monetary bill, after the period called ‘dirty war’ (between 1983 and 1990) and in the recent years after year 2.000, people used to call «palo» (stick) to the «million» of australes or pesos, so «2 palos» refers to 2 million pesos.

For the last 20 years or more, after year 1997 at least, and during the government of president Menem, as probably the hiatus of the pre-devaluation era before year 2000, and even today people got used to call «luca» to thousands of pesos, so «5 lucas» it means 5 thousand pesos. Lucas, is a typical masculine name among the X Generation in Argentina.

Then another nickname for the singular peso is «mango», but nobody would call 35.000 «mangos» when they can say 35 «lucas». Also nobody would say 1.000 «lucas» when they can simply say 1 «palo» (1 million pesos)

Mexico[edit]

The mexican coin is called peso
0.5 MXN coin is called toston
10 MXN coin is called Diego
20 MXN bill is called Benito or Beny
200 MXN bill is called Juana
1000 MXN bill is called Miguelito

In general, money is referred to as «lana» (wool) or «feria» (change).

Kenya[edit]

In Kenya there are about 42 different languages, which have different dialects and indigenous names for money, in addition to the official National languages of Swahili and English. In English, Kenyan currency is a Shilling while in Swahili it is «Shilingi». (Indeed, all East African countries refer to their money as Shillings.^{[citation needed]})

Other notable names include:

Slang term	Bantu-dialect	nilotic-dialect
chapaa, pesa, munde, mundez, mulla, dough, ganji, cheddaz, cheddar/mkwanja	Mbesha	Otongloh/Mafarangah

In addition, youth have a sub-culture street language for the different denominations. Using the street slang (sheng), urbanites often amalgamate Swahili, English, and their mother-tongue to concoct meanings and names for the different denominations. Among the commonly used terms are:

	Image	Denomination	designation	Nickname	pronunciation
Coins		.01ct			ndururu / oruro
	.10ct			peni
	.50ct			sumuni
	1.00	Ksh.1		bob/1bob (wan bob)shilingi
	2.00	Kshs.2
Coin & Notes		5.00	Kshs.5		Ngovo/Guoko/kobuang’/kobole / Gongro
	10.00	Kshs.10		hashu/ikongo/kindee
	20.00	Kshs.20		dhanashara/mbao/blue
Coin		40.00	Kshs.40	Jongo/Kiroosi	Jongo ya tefo/Ki-roo-see (disambiguation for one of fmr Pres. Kibaki’s wives: Mama Lucy Kibaki)
Notes		50.00	Kshs.50		hamsa/hamsini/finje/chuani/nich
	100.00	Kshs.100		mia/soo/oss/red/kioo
	200.00	Kshs.200		soo mbili/soo mbeh/rwabe
	500.00	Kshs.500	five soc	soo tano/punch/jirongo
	1000.00	Kshs.1000	1K	a thao/tenga/ngiri/ngwanye/bramba/ndovu/muti/kapaa/kei(for letter ‘K’) gee(for letter ‘G’)
	1,000,000 (doesn’t exist in notation)	Kshs.1,000,000	1mitre	mita moja

In writing, money is denoted by «Kshs» before or the slang notation «/=» after. For examples, Kshs.1.00 is one-bob, whereas 5,000/= is five-Kei.

Corruption is rampant in the Kenyan government,^[8][9] and corrupt officials in government agencies often refer to illicit kickbacks as «chickens» to avoid anti-corruption and money laundering enforcement.^[10]

Malaysia[edit]

States in Malaysia have different terms for money. Normally, «cents» are called «sen», but in the northern region (Penang, Kedah, Perlis) one «kupang» is 10 sen, thus 50 sen is «5 kupang». «duit» (pronounce «do it») means «money», such as in «Saya tiada wang» («I have no money»).

In the East Coast Region (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang), «50 sen» is replaced with «samah» (where «se» refer to one in Malay). RM 1 (100 sen) is called «seya» («dua» is two in Malay), and so on.

In Kelantan, «ringgit» is called «riyal». For example, RM 10 (10 ringgit) is called «10 riyal» in Kelantan.^{[citation needed]}

In olden days, RM 10 was called «Red Tiger» because there was a watermark of tiger in a red tone on the RM 10 notes.^[11]

Russia[edit]

General money slang

Generally slang terms for money are following:
«b′abki» — from Czech small anvil for making coins — «b′abka», pl. «b′abki»
«babl′o» — slang from «b′abki»
«lav′ae» — used since 1990s, comes from gypsy word «lavae» means silver. Russian writer Victor Pelevin gives an alternative witty consumeristic meaning to this word. In his book «Generation P» he interprets «lav′ae» as a spelled out abbreviation «LV» which stands for liberal values.
«kap′u:sta» — means cabbage
«derevy′anniy» — a general name for a rouble, a substantive adj. «wooden». Means that rouble is cheap as it is made of wood.

Expressions
«strich bablo» — verb «strich» means «to cut», «to trim» money like from the hedge (also «strich kapu:stu», «strich lavae»)
«kos′it’ babl′o» — «to mow money» (also «kos′it’ kap′u:stu», «kos′it’ lav′ae»), similar to «trim money»
Both expressions mean to earn money in big amounts (usually refers to illegal ways) or to collect money from someone.

Coins

The Russian language has slang terms for various amounts of money. Slang names of copeck coins derive from old Russian pre-decimal coins and are rarely in use nowadays: an «altyn» is three copecks, a «grivennik» is ten copecks, a «pyatialtynny» («five-altyns») is fifteen copecks, and a «dvugrivenny» («two-grivenniks») is 20 copecks. Most of these coins are of Soviet mint and no longer used; only the ten copeck coin remains in circulation.

1 copeck — «kop′eyechka» (diminutive from copeck)
3 copecks — «alt′yn»
10 copecks — «gr′ivennik»
15 copecks — «pyatialt′ynny» («five-altyns»)
20 copecks — «dvugr′ivenny» («two-grivenniks»)

Bills

The word «cherv′onets» means ten rubles and refers to an early 20th-century gold coin of the same name. It is also called «ch′irik» (a diminutive for «cherv′onets»). The words for bank notes from 50 to 1000 rubles are the newest and most modern, since currently (2000s-2010s) bank notes of this value are most common in circulation. 50 rubles are called «polt′innik» (an old word that originally meant 50 copecks), 100 rubles are called «st′ol’nik» (a neologism from the Russian word «sto», meaning «100», not related to the Muscovite office of the same name), 500 rubles are called «pyatih′atka» (lit. «five huts»), «fiol′et» («violet», because of the note’s color), and 1000 rubles are called «sht′u:ka» (means «item», «pack» — 1990-s slang for a pack of bills 100x10RUB or 100x10USD), «kus′ok» («piece», «pack» — also refers to a 100x10RUB pack); or «kos′ar'» — (form «k′oso» — adv. «aslope») initially refers to a fact that in the 1910-20s the number «1000» was printed on the note at 45°. The word «kos′ar'» (homonymic meaning is «mower») can also be referred to another money slang expression «kos′it’ babl′o» — «to mow money» — to earn money in big amounts (usually refers to illegal ways).

1 000 000 RUB — «lim′o:n» (lemon), «lyam» (short from «limon»)
1 000 000 000 RUB — «yard» (milliard), «arb′u:z» (watermelon)

Slovakia[edit]

From 1993 to 2008, Slovakia used its own currency, slovenská koruna (Slovak crown), instead of Euro. During this period, slang words for greater amounts of money were established, including «kilo» (slang for kilogram) for one hundred crowns,^[12] «liter» (liter) for one thousand crowns^[13] and «melón» (melon) for one million crowns.^[14] These slang words are still used after 2008, albeit less frequently.

South Africa[edit]

Decimal currency was introduced in 1961, when the South African pound, previously based on the United Kingdom currency, was replaced by the rand (symbol R) at the rate of 2 rand to 1 pound, or 10 shillings to the rand. Thus the United Kingdom term «bob» for a shilling equates to 10 cents.

South African slang for various amounts of money borrows many terms from the rest of the English speaking world, such as the word «grand» when referring to R1,000. Other words are unique to South Africa, such as the term «choc» when referring to a R20 note. One «bar» refers to an amount of R1,000,000.

Among the English speaking communities «Bucks» is commonly used to refer to Rands (South African Currency). Less commonly used is the Afrikaans slang for Rands which is «Bokke», the plural of Bok; The Afrikaans word for antelope («Bucks» being the English equivalent), derived from the Springbok image on the old R 1 coin. e.g. R 100 = 100 Bucks/Bokke, R 5 = 5 Bucks/Bokke etc.

Term	Denomination	Designation	Origin
2 Bob	.20	a 20 cent coin	United Kingdom 2 shillings
5 Bob	.50	a 50 cent coin	United Kingdom 5 shillings
Boice	2	a R2 coin	township slang
Tiger	10	a R10 note	township slang
Chocko	20	a R20 note	township slang
5 Tiger	50	a R50 note	township slang
Pinkies	due to the note’s colour
Jacket	township slang
1 Sheet	100	a R100 note	township slang
Clipa	100	a R100	township slang
Stena		an amount of R1,000	from the township word for brick
Grand		an amount of R1,000	United Kingdom
Bar		an amount of R1,000,000	Durban slang
Yard		an amount of R1,000,000,000	Banking slang
Meter	1,000,000	an amount of R1,000,000	township slang

Netherlands[edit]

Netherlands-slang(straattaal)

5 cent : centoe, kleingeld, stuiver (in Amsterdam «bijssie»)

10 cents: dubbeltje (double stuiver) «duppie»

25 cents: kwartje (a quarter of a Guilder) (in Amsterdam «heitje»)

1 euro : uru, djara, ballen (pleural), e, ekkie, eu, eccie, pop (Previously when it was 1 Guilder – «piek»)

2.5 Guilders» rijksdaalder (in Amsterdam «knaak»)

5 euro: lotto, vijfje («fiver»)

10 euro: donnie, tientje («tenner»), joet (after yodh, the tenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet) – (in Amsterdam «joet»)

25 euro: twaja donnie, geeltje («yellow one», the former guilder banknote used to be yellow from 1861 until 1909) There is no 25 Euro bill; only a 20 Euro)

50 euro: bankoe

100 euro: barkie, meier (after mea, Hebrew for 100), mud (unit of volume, derived from Latin modius; used to be 100 litres after 1820), snip (the old guilder banknote once had a snipe on it) —

1000 euro: doezoe, mille (from French word for thousand), rooie/rooie rug/rug («red one, red back, back», the former guilder banknote once had a red backside), kop («head»)

100.000 euro: ton

1.000.000 euro: milli

1.000.000.000 euro: billi

1.000.000.000.000 euro: trill, trilly

1.000.000.000.000.000 euro: gerro/gerry

New Zealand[edit]

In New Zealand one dollar and two dollar coins are often referred to as «gold coins». This presumably comes from the term «gold coin donation», which is widely used in New Zealand in schools on days such as mufti day and in a Koha^{[citation needed]}.

One hundred dollar notes are often referred to as «Ern Ruddys» a nod to Ernest Rutherford, a New Zealand-born British physicist that features on the one hundred dollar note, also known as the father of nuclear physics.

Sweden[edit]

In Sweden money in general is colloquially referred to by the words stålar, deg («dough») or older klöver («clover») and the English loanword cash. With Rinkeby Swedish and the Swedish hip hop scene para has been introduced.^[15] It is an loanword from Serbo-Croat-Bosnian and Turkish, originating from the Ottoman currency para. Slang terms for the Swedish krona in use today include spänn and bagis. Riksdaler (referring riksdaler, the former Swedish currency) is still used as a colloquial term for the krona in Sweden.^[16] A 20-kronor banknote is sometimes called selma, referring to the portrait of Selma Lagerlöf on the older version of the note.

100-kronor banknote is called hunka and is a wordplay of the word «hundring» meaning hundred, 50 is therefore halvhunka and 200 is dubbelhunka. 200 is to a lesser extent also called «gröning» (green-ing) due to the green color of the banknote, however this can be confusing as «gröning» is also a slang for a gram marijuana.
500 is referred as röding («salvelinus»), «röd» meaning red refers to the color of the banknote.
1000 is called lax («Salmon») because the older 1000 banknotes were pink/orange like the meat of salmon, lesser used terms are: lök (onion) and lakan (sheets).
10.000 is called skjorta (shirt) however it is only used in the rich parts of Stockholm.
1.000.000 is called kanin (rabbit) and derive from the egyptian arabic term were they also call 1 million for rabbit and in more casual speech «mille» which is a shortened version of «miljon».

United Kingdom[edit]

Ready money (i.e. cash) has been referred to in the United Kingdom as «dosh» since^[17] at least 1953; Brewer equates this term with «paying through the nose», dosh being a Russian-Jewish prefix referring to the nose, that is, paying in cash.^[18] The phrase «ready money» has also given rise to the far more popular «readies», though there is debate as to whether this is an obvious reference to the availability of the currency or the red and white colour of the British ten shilling Treasury note of 1914. The related term «cash on the nail» is said to refer to 17th century trading stands in Bristol and elsewhere, over which deals were done and cash changed hands.^[19] Other general terms for money include «bread» (Cockney rhyming slang ‘bread & honey’, money; this also became dough, by derivation from the same root), «cabbage», «clam», «milk», «dosh», «dough», «shillings», «frogskins», «notes», «ducats», «loot», «bones», «bar», «coin», «folding stuff», «honk», «lampshade», «lolly», «lucre»/»filthy lucre», «moola/moolah», «mazuma», «paper», «scratch», «readies», «rhino»^[18] (Thieves’ cant),^[20] «spondulicks/spondoolic(k)s/spondulix/spondoolies» and «wonga».

Quid (singular and plural) is used for pound sterling or £, in British slang. It is thought to derive from the Latin phrase «quid pro quo».^[21] A pound (£1) may also be referred to as a «nicker» or «nugget» (rarer).

Some other pre-decimal United Kingdom coins or denominations became commonly known by colloquial and slang terms, perhaps the most well known being «bob» for a shilling. A farthing was a «mag», a silver threepence was a «joey» and the later nickel-brass threepence was called a «threepenny bit» (, or ); a sixpence was a «tanner», the two-shilling coin or florin was a «two-bob bit», the two shillings and sixpence coin or half-crown was a «half dollar» and the crown was a «dollar». Slang terms are not generally used for the decimal coins that replaced them but in some parts of the country, «bob» continues to represent one-twentieth of a pound, that is five new pence and two bob is 10p. For all denominations «p» is used for pence.

In the United Kingdom the term «shrapnel» may be used for an inconvenient pocketful of change because of the association with a shrapnel shell and «wad», «wedge» or «wodge» for a bundle of banknotes, with «tightwad» a derogatory term for someone who is reluctant to spend money. Similar to «shrapnel» the use of «washers» in Scotland denotes a quantity of low value coinage. Quantities of UK 1p and 2p coins may be referred to as «Copper», 5p, 10p, 20p, and 50p coins as «Silver» and £1 and £2 coins as «Bronze» due to their colour and apparent base metal type. «Brass» is northern English slang for any amount of money.

The one pound note, while still in circulation in Scotland, was occasionally referred to as a «Sheet» and thus the ten shilling note as a «Half Sheet». More commonly the ten shilling note was a «ten bob note» or, in London, «half a bar». «As bent as a nine bob note» is or was a common colloquial phrase used to describe something or someone crooked or counterfeit, or alternatively (and now considered offensive) a gay man who is extremely camp.

In pub culture five and ten pound notes are sometimes called «blue beer tokens» and «brown beer tokens» respectively.

£5 is commonly called a «fiver», and more rarely a «Lady» (short for «Lady Godiva») due to rhyming slang^[22] or a «Deep Sea Diver»^[23] or a «Winston» from the image of Winston Churchill on the back of the new note introduced in 2016
£10 is commonly known as a «tenner» or, more uncommonly, a «Darwin», due to the image of Charles Darwin on the back (issued from 7 November 2000 and withdrawn from circulation on 1 March 2018). Other terms used are a «Cockle» from Cock and Hen — ten and «Ayrton», from Ayrton Senna i.e. tenner^[24].
£15 is sometimes referred to as a Commodore^[25] as it’s worth three «Ladies» (see above) after The Commodores song Three Times a Lady.
£20 is sometimes referred to as a «score», although strictly this is not a slang term for money, as ‘score’ is a normal word for twenty.^[26] £20 is sometimes known as a «Bobby» from Bobby Moore (rhymes with score).
£25 is known as a «pony».
£50 is known as a «bullseye»^[27] (from the points value of the bullseye on a darts board).
£100 is sometimes referred to as a «ton» e.g. £400 would be called 4 ton. Also, a «century» or a «bill» are also used as £100 (e.g. £300 would be three bills).
£500 is known as a «monkey»
£1,000 is commonly referred to as a grand, e.g., £4,000 would be called 4 grand, or rarely in certain dialects as a «bag» (from the rhyming slang «Bag of Sand»), e.g., £4,000 would be called 4 bags.
£2,000 has been known as an Archer,^[28] having been coined by Rik Mayall’s character Alan B’stard in TV comedy The New Statesman.

A «oner» (one-er) has referred to various amounts from one shilling to a pound, to now meaning £100 or £1,000, and a «big one» denoting £1,000. A «oncer» referred particularly to a one-pound note, now defunct.^{[citation needed]}

In London financial culture, a billion pounds or, more often, US dollars, is referred to as a ‘yard’. This derives from the old British English word for a thousand million, a milliard, which has now been replaced by the ‘short scale’ name ‘billion’ from US English. The term ‘million’ for a million pounds or dollars is often dropped when it is clear from context. E.g. «He made three quid last year» would mean «He earned three million pounds».

United States[edit]

General terms include:

Outdated or rarely used terms include:

U.S. coinage nicknames reflect their value, composition and tradition.

• The one-cent coin ($0.01 or 1¢) is commonly called a penny due to historical comparison with the British penny. Older U.S. pennies, prior to 1982, are sometimes called «coppers» due to being made of 95% copper. Pennies dated 1909–1958, displaying wheat stalks on the reverse, are sometimes called «wheaties» or «wheat-backs», while 1943 steel wheat cents are sometimes nicknamed «steelies».
• The five-cent coin ($0.05 or 5¢) is commonly called a nickel due to being made of 25% nickel since 1866. Nickels minted between 1942 and 1945 are nicknamed ‘war nickels’ owing to their different metal content, removing the nickel for a mixture of silver, copper and manganese.
• The dime coin ($0.10 or 10¢) is worth ten cents.
• The quarter coin ($0.25 or 25¢) is worth twenty-five cents. A quarter used to be called two-bits (see below), but this is falling out of use.
• The half ($0.50 or 50¢) is worth fifty cents.

Dimes and quarters used to be sometimes collectively referred to as «silver» due to their historic composition of 90% silver prior to 1965.

A bit is an antiquated term equal to one eighth of a dollar or 12+1⁄2 cents, after the Spanish 8-Real «piece of eight» coin on which the U.S. dollar was initially based. So «two bits» is twenty-five cents; similarly, «four bits» is fifty cents. More rare are «six bits» (75 cents) and «eight bits» meaning a dollar. These are commonly referred to as two-bit, four-bit, six-bit and eight-bit.^[30]

U.S. banknote nicknames reflect their values (such as five, twenty, etc.), the subjects depicted on them and their color.

• $1 bill is sometimes called a «single», a «buck», a «simoleon» or rarely an «ace».^{[citation needed]} The dollar has also been referred to as a «bean» or «bone» (e.g. twenty bones is equal to $20).
• $2 bill is sometimes referred to as a «deuce».
• $5 bill has been referred to as a «fin», «fiver» or «five-spot».^[29]
• $10 bill is a «sawbuck», a «ten-spot», or a «Hamilton».
• $20 bill as a «Jackson», or a «dub», or a «double sawbuck».
• Among horse-race gamblers, the $50 bill is called a «frog» and is considered unlucky. It is sometimes referred to as a «Grant».
• $100 bill is occasionally «C-note» (C being the Roman numeral for 100, from the Latin word centum) or «century note»; it can also be referred to as a «Benjamin» or «Benny» (after Benjamin Franklin, who is pictured on the note), or a «yard» (so $300 is «3 yards» and a $50 bill is a «half a yard»). «A stack» is $1,000 in the form of ten $100 bills, banded by a bank or otherwise.
• Amounts above 1000 US dollars are occasionally referred to as «large» («twenty large» being $20,000, etc.). In slang, a thousand dollars may also be referred to as a «grand» or «G», «K» (as in kilo), or less commonly a «stack», a «bozo», as well as a «band» . For example, «The repairs to my car cost me a couple grand» or «The repairs to my car cost me a couple [of] stacks».
• 1,000 US dollars is called a “rack”, or rarely, a «d-note».
• 10,000 US dollars is called a “stack”.
• 100,000 US dollars is called a «brick» or a «honey bun».

Banknotes may be collectively referred to as «dead Presidents», although neither Alexander Hamilton ($10) nor Benjamin Franklin ($100) was President. These are also referred to as «wallet-sized portraits of Presidents» – referring to the fact that people typically carry pictures in their wallets.

«Greenback» originally applied specifically to the 19th century Demand Note dollars created by Abraham Lincoln to finance the costs of the American Civil War for the North. The original note was printed in black and green on the back side. It is still used to refer to the U.S. dollar (but not to the dollars of other countries).

Other more general terms for money, not specifically linked to actual banknotes:

• Monetary units larger than 1 dollar are often referred to by the names of their coin counterparts: $5 is a «nickel», $10 is a «dime», and $25 is a «quarter».
• A one hundred dollar bill can also be called a buck, or a «dollar», but since a buck is also used for one dollar, the context needs to be clear (this continues the pattern of referring to values by the coin counterpart).
• A «hoka» is used to express a large sum of money, usually between ten thousand and fifty thousand dollars.
• «honey bun» derived from the term «honey bun harden» is mainly used when referring to a hundred thousand.
• A million dollars is sometimes called a «closet» or a «rock», popularized by several TV shows and movies. On The Sopranos: in one episode Tony Soprano states, «So adjusting for inflation I’m looking at half a rock?» In a separate episode Soprano states: «This whole thing is going to cost me close to a rock.» Another slang term for a million dollars is an «M», as used in rap songs. Financial institutions and applications will often use «MM» when writing shorthand for a million dollars, as a million is the product of the Roman numeral «M» (1000) times itself. More common usage is a «mil».
• A «yard» is a financial term for one billion dollars, deriving from the French word of the same meaning, «milliard», pronounced ‘mee-yard’.

See also[edit]

• Money
• Digital currency
• World currency

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Brewer, E. Cobham (1978). Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Avenel Books. ISBN 0-517-25921-4.

External links[edit]

• Glossary of money terms at Hemyockcastle.co.uk

Today, you’re going to increase your money vocabulary with 42 words and phrases about money. Also check out Maths Vocabulary in English: Do You Know the Basics?

Like it or not, money is a big part of most of our lives.

So it’s important to be able to talk about it, right?

Here are 42 usfeul words and phrases to help you talk about money in English.

Words to describe physical money

Note

This is British English, and it basically means “a piece of paper money.” It’s short for “bank note.”

“I found a ten-pound note in the street the other day.”

“I tried to buy a sandwich with a fifty-pound note, but the shopkeeper wouldn’t accept it.”

Bill

“Bill” is the American word for “note.”

So we can talk about ten-pound notes, but we usually say ten-dollar bill.

My main question is “Who’s Bill?”

Coins

The money that isn’t notes — those shiny metal things? Those are coins.

Here’s something I’ve noticed about travelling:

In some countries, you end up with loads and loads of coins in your pocket. They just have so many of them.

The UK is one of those countries.

Shrapnel

This word actually means the small pieces of metal that explode out of a bomb or a grenade.

But when we’re talking about money, it’s a very informal way to describe coins.

But there’s a difference in how we use “shrapnel.”

The word “coin” is countable:

“How many coins have you got in your pocket?”

But the word “shrapnel” is uncountable:

“How much shrapnel have you got on you? I need to get a ticket, and the machine doesn’t accept notes.”

Change

When we pay for something, we do it one of two ways.

We can give the exact change: if the toothbrush you’re buying costs £1, and you give the shopkeeper £1, you’ve given the exact change.

But if you don’t have any shrapnel on you, you might want to pay with a five-pound note.

Then the shopkeeper gives you £4 in change.

Or perhaps you only have a fifty-pound note. So you try to pay for the toothbrush with that.

The shopkeeper just shakes his head and says, “Sorry, mate. I can’t break a fifty.”

What does it mean?

If the shopkeeper can’t give you the correct change for the fifty pounds because he doesn’t have it, then he can’t break the fifty-pound note.

And you don’t get a toothbrush.

Coppers

Most countries have very, very low-value coins.

What colour are they in your country?

Probably, they’re this dark orange colour — or copper colour.

That’s why we call them coppers.

Words to describe amounts of money

Fiver

This is British English, and it means “five-pound note.”

Easy, right?

Tenner

OK, you’ve guessed this one, haven’t you?

Yep — it means “ten-pound note.”

This only works for five pounds and ten pounds. We can’t say, for example, a twentier. It just sounds weird.

A lot of people I know (including myself) use these words when we’re outside the UK to talk about ten lira or ten lev or ten euros or whatever the currency is where we are.

K

I wrote about this in my big post on how to say numbers in English.

If you add “K” to a number in English, it means “thousand.”

Here’s an example for you to see how it works (and also to see how ridiculously overpriced things are in the UK).

These are beach huts:

They’re cute things that you’ll often find on the beach in the UK.

The idea is that you buy one and then you have a little room to change your clothes in, drink tea in and even have a nap in when you’re at the beach.

This one in the photo is in Brighton, my hometown.

Want to buy one? Well — they’re pretty expensive.

These guys cost over 20K.

Ridiculous, isn’t it?

Grand

“Grand” is exactly the same as “K.”

It means “thousand.”

“I still can’t believe those beach huts are going for over 20 grand each.”

Cash

Cash is real money — not virtual money.

If you’ve got bank notes or coins, then you’ve got cash.

If you’re using your card (or cheques, like it’s the ‘80s), then you’re not using cash.

Also — Johnny Cash. Because there’s never a bad time for Johnny Cash.

Words to describe currencies and denominations

Pound

I’m sure you know this one. It’s the currency used in the UK.

But just one thing: you don’t need to say “sterling.” No one uses it!

In fact, I had no idea what it meant until I was an adult.

Quid

You’ll hear this one a lot in the UK.

This is British English, and it means “pound.”

But be careful!

The plural of “quid” is “quid” (not “quids”).

So your kettle might cost one quid or fifty quid.

Which is really expensive for a kettle. Even a nice electric one with flashy green lights and everything.

Don’t buy it!

Bucks

This is originally American English, and it means “dollars.”

When I visited Australia back in February, I was pleased to hear that they use “bucks” there, too. A lot.

It feels good to say, right?

“That’ll be seven bucks, please.”

p

This is short for “pence.”

There are 100 pence in a pound.

It’s also the same in the singular and plural — so something could be 1p or 50p.

But prices can get a little tricky to say when they get more complicated. Click here for more on how to say prices correctly — it’s harder than you think!

Ways to talk about using the ATM

ATM

OK. What’s this?

Yep — it’s an ATM.

Cash machine

OK. What about this?

Yep — it’s an ATM.

But we can also call it a cash machine.

Hole-in-the-wall

And this? What’s this?

Yep — it’s an ATM or a cash machine or, if you’re talking to someone from the UK, a hole-in-the-wall.

But what can you do with it?

Withdraw

OK. You’ve got no cash on you, and you need to buy that amazing teapot — and you need to buy it NOW!

So you go to the cash machine and withdraw the cash you need.

Take out

“Withdraw” is quite a formal word.

In most situations it’s nice to use this phrasal verb instead:

“Give me five minutes — I’ve just got to go to the ATM and take out a bit of cash.”

Deposit

So we can use the ATM to withdraw money, but we can also use it to do the opposite.

When you deposit money, you take the real money you have in your hand, let the machine eat it up and watch the money get added to your bank account.

Put into

So “withdraw” is quite formal and “take out” is quite informal.

Also “deposit” is quite formal and “put into” is quite informal.

“Someone’s put about four grand into my account! Where did it come from?”

Ways to describe the money you get

Payday

This is, surprisingly, the day you get paid.

Maybe it’s every Monday.

Or maybe it’s on the first of the month.

Or maybe it’s NEVER! (That job was awful.)

Salary

Usually when people talk about their salary, they’re describing how much they get paid every year or every month or, sometimes, every hour — but only two of these are technically correct.

A salary is how much you get paid every year.

However, you’ll often hear people talk about a “monthly salary.”

And that’s fine, as the monthly salary is calculated based on how much you make in a year.

Wage

So how do we describe the amount of money you get per hour?

That’s when “wage” comes in.

A wage is usually used to describe the money you get for one hour’s work.

Most countries have a minimum wage, which is the smallest amount of money a company can legally pay their workers.

Income

This is the money you get over a period of time.

So we can talk about a weekly income, a monthly income or a yearly income.

But we actually use this word in lots of others ways.

For example, a way to describe poor families or rich families is by using the term “low-income household” or “high-income household.”

This is often used by people who work in sales. Probably because when you’re trying to sell stuff to people, it’s good to avoid the words “rich” and “poor.”

We can also use the phrase “on a six-figure income” (an income with six numbers, e.g., $500,000).

It’s basically a way to say you’re rich:

“50 quid for a kettle? No problem — I’m on a six-figure income.”

Words to describe paying less

Discount

Here’s it is — your dream toaster:

It not only makes toast, but can filter coffee, travel through time and also make your enemies do embarrassing things in public.

But there’s a problem. A predictable one.

It’s really expensive — completely out of your price range.

Then, one day, the shop decides to sell it at a much cheaper price.

In fact, they cut the price by 80%.

That’s an 80% discount.

Now you can afford it!

Go get that toaster!

Sales

There are some times of the year when the shops go crazy with discounts.

In the USA, there’s an event called Black Friday. And it’s absolutely mental and ridiculous.

Just for one day, the shops discount everything — a lot.

As a result, people start queuing outside stores one, two, even three days before the special day.

When the doors open, everyone tries to kill each other (almost) to get to the cheap, heavily discounted, stuff:

via GIPHY

(Really — is stuff that important?)

Anyway, Black Friday is a massive sale — a period of time when a shop, or lots of shops, have big discounts.

You also have closing-down sales, when shops are about to close down, and they want to sell everything they have left.

When you buy something at a discount because it was part of a sale, you can say it was “on sale.”

“Do you really want to buy that?”
“Yeah — I think so. Anyway, it’s on sale.”

Mates’ rates

Sometimes shops give discounts.

But so do friends.

Let’s say you’ve got a good friend who does awesome tattoos.

Everyone wants her to do their tattoos.

In fact, she’s the most popular tattoo artist in town and, as a result, she charges a lot of money for them.

But not to you — you’re one of her best friends.

You can get a tattoo from her at a much cheaper price.

She’s your friend, so she charges you less.

She does that tattoo at mates’ rates — a discount for friends.

Ways of describing having no money

We’ve all been there, right?

That time when you just have no money to spend.

There are a few ways of describing this.

Skint

This is British English and basically means “without money — at least for now.”

It’s an adjective:

“Coming to the pub?”
“Not tonight, mate. I’m skint at the moment.”

Remember — it’s usually a temporary situation (like the day before payday). It’s different from being poor, which is something more permanent.

Broke

This is basically the same as “skint” but, it’s used outside the UK.

Flat broke

This means “very broke — really — I have literally NO money!”

Ways of describing how much stuff costs

Pricey

You know that feeling, right?

You’re in a new city, and you’re hungry.

You see a restaurant that looks quite good — not too posh, so probably not expensive.

You sit down and look at the menu … and the prices.

Now — if the menu was really expensive you’d just leave, right?

But what if it’s only a bit expensive?

Just a little bit more than it should cost?

Well — you’d probably stay, wouldn’t you?

Even though the menu’s a bit pricey — a little bit more expensive than it should be. But only a little bit.

A waste of money

OK. All of a sudden, you’ve got a grand.

Quick! What do you spend it on?

You could spend it on a trip around the world.

Or you could put it in the bank and save it.

Or you could renovate your kitchen — it really needs it.

All good ideas, right?

Or you could buy that giant dog statue you saw yesterday.

Not such a good idea, right?

What? You went for the dog statue? Seriously?

You’ve spent the money on something stupid! It’s a complete waste of money!

A bargain

When you buy something, and you get a great deal. It’s much cheaper than expected.

Perhaps it’s a skiing holiday in France for less than 100 bucks.

Or a beautiful teapot for just a quid.

Whatever it is, enjoy it — it’s a bargain!

Ways of describing spending money

Splash out

Awesome! You’ve received a bonus 200 quid in your salary this month.

What are you going to do with the extra cash?

Well — you could save it.

Or you could splash out on that dream toaster you’ve always wanted.

“Splash out” basically means “spend freely.”

It’s usually for a special treat — something you wouldn’t usually buy because it’s a little pricey. But just this once. This is a special occasion! Why not?

Blow it all

You decide to sell your car because you realise that bikes are way better. (They are!)

So you sell it, and you get a good deal for it.

One day you have loads of money in your pocket.

So you take all your friends out for a big meal.

The next day you wake up and check how much is left.

Nothing! Not a penny!

You’ve blown it all!

When you blow your money on something, it means you spend a lot of money on something useless.

“When he was fired, the company gave him 20 grand. Guess what? He blew it all on a golden toaster. Unbelievable!”

Break the bank

This means “spend more than you should” or “spend more than you can afford.”

However, it’s often used in the negative to give a good reason for buying something:

“Well — it looks fun … and the tickets are only five quid.”
“Yeah! Let’s do it! It’s not exactly going to break the bank!”

Ways of describing not spending money

Stingy

Here’s Tony. You may remember him from my post on negative personality adjectives:

He hates sharing his stuff.

And he most certainly will NOT be buying you a drink anytime soon.

He’s stingy!

It’s basically the opposite of “generous.”

Tight-fisted

This is basically the same as “stingy.”

We can also shorten it and just say “tight.”

“Hey, Tony! Can you lend me a couple of quid? I haven’t got enough on me for the ticket.”
“No. Buy your own ticket!”
“Come on! Don’t be so tight!”

On a tight budget

Money’s a funny thing, isn’t it?

Sometimes there are good times, and we feel like we can afford pretty much anything.

And sometimes there are … not-so-good times.

Times when we need to be careful about what we spend.

Times when even spending a quid or two on a cup of tea can break the bank.

That’s when we’re on a tight budget.

On a shoestring budget

This is similar to “on a tight budget,” but we use it when we’re describing how much money there is for a specific thing.

I have a friend who decided to cycle from Istanbul to Manchester on a shoestring budget.

Some of the best films were made on a shoestring budget.

Get the idea?

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OK, so that was a lot of money vocabulary — 42 words and phrases to talk about money in English.

But what did I miss?

What other words and phrases about money can you think of?

Let me know in the comments!

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