Word that means you like money

Some people often ask these questions: what are words related to money? what is another slang word for money? what do you call someone who is too careful with money? what are some positive words to describe money? In fact, this post will shed light on nouns, verbs, adjectives, and some slang words associated with money.

Money is a pretty important aspect of our lives, that is why there are plenty of different words and phrases to talk about money. For example:

Most people work hard to get money. We need money to buy clothes, food, etc. We can use a credit card, check or cash to buy things. Therefore, how do I talk about money in English? How can u describe money? Below is a chart that will help you boost your money vocabulary words. Also, money words example sentences will be listed to clarify the meaning of every word.

Money Words: Synonyms For Money With Example Sentences

Synonyms For Money	Money Example Sentences
cash	Sabina went to the ATM to get some cash.
funds	Last month, our family’s funds were a little low.
bill	In the United States, the $5 bill has a picture of Abraham Lincoln.
capital	The starting capital of the new firm was around 100.000 $
check	Bankers claim that new forms of check fraud raised lately.
salary	Pete is on a salary of $ 20.000
banknote	They illegally forged banknotes.
currency	Carl doesn’t like coins, he prefers to carry only paper currency.
bread	father will buy that bike for his kids when he gets some bread.
silver	Anna needs $ 1 in silver for the parking meter.
change	I didn’t have any change for the phone.
property	Property prices in downtown have enormously dropped.
pay	Bill’s job is hard work, that is why he gets a pay raise.
wealth	Mr. Richardson’s wealth is estimated at around $ 250 million
wage	The company pays wages on Saturdays.
chips	He needed some chips for the parking meter.
payment	He prefers cash as a method of payment.
dough	Brother spent a lot of dough on his new tablet.
finances	Finance for health comes from taxpayers.
bankroll	The family’s bankroll right now is a total of $ 5.000
bucks	The stereo costs $ 10 bucks.
coin	The young man moved to the big city seeking work that pays a lot of coins.
gravy	The ten percent profit is gravy for our business.
coinage	They collect gold and silver coinage.
gold	Gold does never buy happiness.
loot	Thieves have stolen a big amount of loot.
greenbacks	She needs 5 greenbacks to buy the notebook.
pesos	The poor couple had only a few pesos to buy food for the children.
resources	Bianca doesn’t have enough resources to buy a used car.
riches	Her father was pretty lucky to have a business that has brought him great riches.
treasure	They discovered treasures buried in the old backyard.
wherewithal	Antony has the wherewithal to pay cash for the new house.
hard cash	Do you have any hard cash?
wad	She gave them a thick wad of $ 20 notes.
legal tender	This type of coin is no longer considered legal tender.
long green	Where did Janet get the long green to afford a car like that?
exchange	That bank offers the best exchange rate.

What Is Another Slang Word for Money? 100 Slang Words For Money

Actually, money is a major thing that most people cannot do without or live without. Money has a vast and rich bank of terms and vocabulary items. thus, What is another slang word for money? This is an interesting chart that compiles 100+ slang terms for money.

Tender	Resources	Gold	Frogskin	Rack	Folding stuff
Sawbucks	Bacon	Franklins	Salad	Gouda	C note
Cheddar	Hamilton	Scratch	Figgas	Cheese	Pesos
Skrilla	Nickel	Chips	Moola	Riches	Bucks
Loot	Bread	Large	Bank	Five spot	Lucci
Ten spot	G “grand”	K	Lucre	Nuggets	Brass (UK)
Fins	Tamales	Cha-ching	Quid	Gelt	Jackson
Simoleon	Long green	Paper	Funds	Lettuce	Fiver
Tenners	Cabbage	Gwop	Ones	Bills	Chalupa
Wonga	Stash	Chump change	Dollar dollar bill y’all	Smackers	Dough
Boodle	Dosh	M	Clams	MM (or MN)	Stacks
Yard	Treasure	Bankroll	Spondulix	Greenbacks	Bones
Ducketts	Cream	Wampum	Cake	Wad	Dime
Green	Guap	Buckaroos	Yaper	Coin	Mil
Knots	cash money	Grand	Dubs	Doubloons	Celery
Hundies	Chump change	Blue cheddar	Bones	Grant	Grease
Bean	Dead presidents	Plunder	Capital	Bookoo bucks	Fetti
Mega bucks	Scrilla	Ducats	Five-spot	Benjamins	Benji
Green	Big ones	Payola	Dinero	Gwala	Commas

What do you call someone who is too careful with money?

There are many words in English for someone who is very careful with money and doesn’t like to spend it. For instance, we can use such terms as a miser, cheapskate, scrooge, etc. However, all of these words are used in a derogative way, and none can be guaranteed not to offend or bother others. These are words you can use in a negative and insulting way to describe someone who doesn’t like to spend money.

On the other hand, if we want to say nicely that someone doesn’t waste money, in this case, adjectives will work better. These are words to use to nicely describe a person who doesn’t like to spend money.

1. frugal
2. penny-wise
3. thrifty
4. economical
5. economizing
6. provident
7. scrimping
8. sparing

Word Search Money Vocabulary

Do you like word search games? Have fun finding Money Vocabulary with this word search. Enjoy solving it with your kids or students.

“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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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!

Did you like this post? Then be awesome and share by clicking the blue button below.

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.

With dictionary look up. Double click on any word for its definition.

This section is in advanced English and is only intended to be a guide, not to
be taken too seriously!

Slang money words, meanings and origins

While the origins of these slang terms are many and various, certainly a lot of English money slang is rooted in various London communities, which for different reasons liked to use language only known in their own circles, notably wholesale markets, street traders, crime and the underworld, the docks, taxi-cab driving, and the immigrant communities. London has for centuries been extremely cosmopolitan, both as a travel hub and a place for foreign people to live and work and start their own busineses. This contributed to the development of some ‘lingua franca’ expressions, i.e., mixtures of Italian, Greek, Arabic, Yiddish (Jewish European/Hebrew dialect), Spanish and English which developed to enable understanding between people of different nationalities, rather like a pidgin or hybrid English. Certain lingua franca blended with ‘parlyaree’ or ‘polari’, which is basically underworld slang.

Backslang also contributes several slang money words. Backslang reverses the phonetic (sound of the) word, not the spelling, which can produce some strange interpretations, and was popular among market traders, butchers and greengrocers.

Here are the most common and/or interesting British slang money words and expressions, with meanings, and origins where known. Many are now obsolete; typically words which relate to pre-decimalisation coins, although some have re-emerged and continue to do so.

Some non-slang words are included where their origins are particularly interesting, as are some interesting slang money expressions which originated in other parts of the world, and which are now entering the English language.

A to Z of Money Slang

archer = two thousand pounds (£2,000), late 20th century, from the Jeffrey Archer court case in which he was alleged to have bribed call-girl Monica Coughlan with this amount.

ayrton senna/ayrton = tenner (ten pounds, £10) — cockney rhyming slang created in the 1980s or early 90s, from the name of the peerless Brazilian world champion Formula One racing driver, Ayrton Senna (1960-94), who won world titles in 1988, 90 and 91, before his tragic death at San Marino in 1994.

bag/bag of sand = grand = one thousand pounds (£1,000), seemingly recent cockney rhyming slang, in use from around the mid-1990s in Greater London; perhaps more widely too.

bar = a pound, from the late 1800s, and earlier a sovereign, probably from Romany gypsy ‘bauro’ meaning heavy or big, and also influenced by allusion to the iron bars use as trading currency used with Africans, plus a possible reference to the custom of casting of precious metal in bars.

bender = sixpence (6d) Another slang term with origins in the 1800s when the coins were actually solid silver, from the practice of testing authenticity by biting and bending the coin, which would being made of near-pure silver have been softer than the fakes.

beer tokens = money. Usually now meaning one pound coins. From the late 20th century. Alternatively beer vouchers, which commonly meant pound notes, prior to their withdrawal.

beehive = five pounds (£5). Cockney rhyming slang from 1960s and perhaps earlier since beehive has meant the number five in rhyming slang since at least the 1920s.

bees (bees and honey) = money. Cockney rhyming slang from the late 1800s. Also shortened to beesum (from bees and, bees ‘n’, to beesum).

bice/byce = two shillings (2/-) or two pounds or twenty pounds — probably from the French bis, meaning twice, which suggests usage is older than the 1900s first recorded and referenced by dictionary sources. Bice could also occur in conjunction with other shilling slang, where the word bice assumes the meaning ‘two’, as in ‘a bice of deaners’, pronounced ‘bicerdeaners’, and with other money slang, for example bice of tenners, pronounced ‘bicertenners’, meaning twenty pounds.

big ben — ten pounds (£10) the sum, and a ten pound note — cockney rhyming slang.

biscuit = £100 or £1,000. Initially suggested (Mar 2007) by a reader who tells me that the slang term ‘biscuit’, meaning £100, has been in use for several years, notably in the casino trade (thanks E). I am grateful also (thanks Paul, Apr 2007) for a further suggestion that ‘biscuit’ means £1,000 in the casino trade, which apparently is due to the larger size of the £1,000 chip. It would seem that the ‘biscuit’ slang term is still evolving and might mean different things (£100 or £1,000) to different people. I can find no other references to meanings or origins for the money term ‘biscuit’.

bob = shilling (1/-), although in recent times now means a pound or a dollar in certain regions. Historically bob was slang for a British shilling (Twelve old pence, pre-decimalisation — and twenty shillings to a pound). No plural version; it was ‘thirty bob’ not ‘thirty bobs’. Prior to 1971 bob was one of the most commonly used English slang words. Now sadly gone in the UK for this particular meaning, although lots of other meanings remain (for example the verb or noun meaning of pooh, a haircut, and the verb meaning of cheat). Usage of bob for shilling dates back to the late 1700s. Origin is not known for sure. Possibilities include a connection with the church or bell-ringing since ‘bob’ meant a set of changes rung on the bells. This would be consistent with one of the possible origins and associations of the root of the word Shilling, (from Proto-Germanic ‘skell’ meaning to sound or ring). There is possibly an association with plumb-bob, being another symbolic piece of metal, made of lead and used to mark a vertical position in certain trades, notably masons. Brewer’s 1870 Dictionary of Phrase and Fable states that ‘bob’ could be derived from ‘Bawbee’, which was 16-19th century slang for a half-penny, in turn derived from: French ‘bas billon’, meaning debased copper money (coins were commonly cut to make change). Brewer also references the Laird of Sillabawby, a 16th century mintmaster, as a possible origin. Also perhaps a connection with a plumb-bob, made of lead and used to mark a vertical position in certain trades, notably masons. ‘Bob a nob’, in the early 1800s meant ‘a shilling a head’, when estimating costs of meals, etc. In the 18th century ‘bobstick’ was a shillings-worth of gin. In parts of the US ‘bob’ was used for the US dollar coin. I am also informed (thanks K Inglott, March 2007) that bob is now slang for a pound in his part of the world (Bath, South-West England), and has also been used as money slang, presumably for Australian dollars, on the Home and Away TV soap series. A popular slang word like bob arguably develops a life of its own. Additionally (ack Martin Symington, Jun 2007) the word ‘bob’ is still commonly used among the white community of Tanzania in East Africa for the Tanzanian Shilling.

boodle = money. There are many different interpretations of boodle meaning money, in the UK and the US. Boodle normally referred to ill-gotten gains, such as counterfeit notes or the proceeds of a robbery, and also to a roll of banknotes, although in recent times the usage has extended to all sorts of money, usually in fairly large amounts. Much variation in meaning is found in the US. The origins of boodle meaning money are (according to Cassells) probably from the Dutch word ‘boedel’ for personal effects or property (a person’s worth) and/or from the old Scottish ‘bodle’ coin, worth two Scottish pence and one-sixth of an English penny, which logically would have been pre-decimalisation currency.

bottle = two pounds, or earlier tuppence (2d), from the cockney rhyming slang: bottle of spruce = deuce (= two pounds or tuppence). Spruce probably mainly refers to spruce beer, made from the shoots of spruce fir trees which is made in alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties. Separately bottle means money generally and particularly loose coinage, from the custom of passing a bottle for people to give money to a busker or street entertainer. I am also informed (ack Sue Batch, Nov 2007) that spruce also referred to lemonade, which is perhaps another source of the bottle rhyming slang: «… around Northants, particularly the Rushden area, Spruce is in fact lemonade… it has died out nowadays — I was brought up in the 50s and 60s and it was an everyday word around my area back then. As kids growing up we always asked for a glass of spruce. It was quite an accepted name for lemonade…»

brass = money. From the 16th century, and a popular expression the north of England, e.g., ‘where there’s muck there’s brass’ which incidentally alluded to certain trades involving scrap, mess or waste which offered high earnings. This was also a defensive or retaliatory remark aimed at those of middle, higher or profesional classes who might look down on certain ‘working class’ entrepreneurs or traders. The ‘where there’s much there’s brass’ expression helped maintain and spread the populairity iof the ‘brass’ money slang, rather than cause it. Brass originated as slang for money by association to the colour of gold coins, and the value of brass as a scrap metal.

bread (bread and honey) = money. From cockney rhyming slang, bread and honey = money, and which gave rise to the secondary rhyming slang ‘poppy’, from poppy red = bread. Bread also has associations with money, which in a metaphorical sense can be traced back to the Bible. Bread meaning money is also linked with with the expression ‘earning a crust’, which alludes to having enough money to pay for one’s daily bread.

brown = a half-penny or ha’penny. An old term, probably more common in London than elsewhere, used before UK decimalisation in 1971, and before the ha’penny was withdrawn in the 1960s.

bunce = money, usually unexpected gain and extra to an agreed or predicted payment, typically not realised by the payer. Earlier English spelling was bunts or bunse, dating from the late 1700s or early 1800s (Cassells and Partridge). Origins are not certain. Bunts also used to refer to unwanted or unaccounted-for goods sold for a crafty gain by workers, and activity typically hidden from the business owner. Suggestions of origin include a supposed cockney rhyming slang shortening of bunsen burner (= earner), which is very appealing, but unlikely given the history of the word and spelling, notably that the slang money meaning pre-dated the invention of the bunsen burner, which was devised around 1857. (Thanks R Bambridge)

bung = money in the form of a bribe, from the early English meaning of pocket and purse, and pick-pocket, according to Cassells derived from Frisian (North Netherlands) pung, meaning purse. Bung is also a verb, meaning to bribe someone by giving cash.

cabbage = money in banknotes, ‘folding’ money — orginally US slang according to Cassells, from the 1900s, also used in the UK, logically arising because of the leaf allusion, and green was a common colour of dollar notes and pound notes (thanks R Maguire, who remembers the slang from Glasgow in 1970s).

carpet = three pounds (£3) or three hundred pounds (£300), or sometimes thirty pounds (£30). This has confusing and convoluted origins, from as early as the late 1800s: It seems originally to have been a slang term for a three month prison sentence, based on the following: that ‘carpet bag’ was cockney rhyming slang for a ‘drag’, which was generally used to describe a three month sentence; also that in the prison workshops it supposedly took ninety days to produce a certain regulation-size piece of carpet; and there is also a belief that prisoners used to be awarded the luxury of a piece of carpet for their cell after three year’s incarceration. The term has since the early 1900s been used by bookmakers and horse-racing, where carpet refers to odds of three-to-one, and in car dealing, where it refers to an amount of £300.

caser/case = five shillings (5/-), a crown coin. Seems to have surfaced first as caser in Australia in the mid-1800s from the Yiddish (Jewish European/Hebrew dialect) kesef meaning silver, where (in Australia) it also meant a five year prison term. Caser was slang also for a US dollar coin, and the US/Autralian slang logically transferred to English, either or all because of the reference to silver coin, dollar slang for a crown, or the comparable value, as was.

chip = a shilling (1/-) and earlier, mid-late 1800s a pound or a sovereign. According to Cassells chip meaning a shilling is from horse-racing and betting. Chip was also slang for an Indian rupee. The association with a gambling chip is logical. Chip and chipping also have more general associations with money and particularly money-related crime, where the derivations become blurred with other underworld meanings of chip relating to sex and women (perhaps from the French ‘chipie’ meaning a vivacious woman) and narcotics (in which chip refers to diluting or skimming from a consignment, as in chipping off a small piece — of the drug or the profit). Chipping-in also means to contributing towards or paying towards something, which again relates to the gambling chip use and metaphor, i.e. putting chips into the centre of the table being necessary to continue playing.

chump change = a relatively insiginificant amount of money — a recent expression (seemingly 2000s) originating in the US and now apparently entering UK usage. (Thanks M Johnson, Jan 2008)

clod = a penny (1d). Clod was also used for other old copper coins. From cockney rhyming slang clodhopper (= copper). A clod is a lump of earth. A clodhopper is old slang for a farmer or bumpkin or lout, and was also a derogatory term used by the cavalry for infantry foot soldiers.

coal = a penny (1d). Also referred to money generally, from the late 1600s, when the slang was based simply on a metaphor of coal being an essential commodity for life. The spelling cole was also used. Common use of the coal/cole slang largely ceased by the 1800s although it continued in the expressions ‘tip the cole’ and ‘post the cole’, meaning to make a payment, until these too fell out of popular use by the 1900s. It is therefore unlikely that anyone today will use or recall this particular slang, but if the question arises you’ll know the answer. Intriguingly I’ve been informed (thanks P Burns, 8 Dec 2008) that the slang ‘coal’, seemingly referring to money — although I’ve seen a suggestion of it being a euphemism for coke (cocaine) — appears in the lyrics of the song Oxford Comma by the band Vampire weekend: «Why would you lie about how much coal you have? Why would you lie about something dumb like that?…»

cock and hen = ten pounds (thanks N Shipperley). The ten pound meaning of cock and hen is 20th century rhyming slang. Cock and hen — also cockerel and hen — has carried the rhyming slang meaning for the number ten for longer. Its transfer to ten pounds logically grew more popular through the inflationary 1900s as the ten pound amount and banknote became more common currency in people’s wages and wallets, and therefore language. Cock and hen also gave raise to the variations cockeren, cockeren and hen, hen, and the natural rhyming slang short version, cock — all meaning ten pounds.

cockeren — ten pounds, see cock and hen.

commodore = fifteen pounds (£15). The origin is almost certainly London, and the clever and amusing derivation reflects the wit of Londoners: Cockney rhyming slang for five pounds is a ‘lady’, (from Lady Godiva = fiver); fifteen pounds is three-times five pounds (3x£5=£15); ‘Three Times a Lady’ is a song recorded by the group The Commodores; and there you have it: Three Times a Lady = fifteen pounds = a commodore. (Thanks Simon Ladd, Jun 2007)

coppers = pre-decimal farthings, ha’pennies and pennies, and to a lesser extent 1p and 2p coins since decimalisation, and also meaning a very small amount of money. Coppers was very popular slang pre-decimalisation (1971), and is still used in referring to modern pennies and two-penny coins, typically describing the copper (coloured) coins in one’s pocket or change, or piggy bank. Pre-decimal farthings, ha’pennies and pennies were 97% copper (technically bronze), and would nowadays be worth significantly more than their old face value because copper has become so much more valuable. Decimal 1p and 2p coins were also 97% copper (technically bronze — 97% copper, 2.5% zinc, 0.5% tin ) until replaced by copper-plated steel in 1992, which amusingly made them magnetic. The term coppers is also slang for a very small amount of money, or a cost of something typically less than a pound, usually referring to a bargain or a sum not worth thinking about, somewhat like saying ‘peanuts’ or ‘a row of beans’. For example: «What did you pay for that?» …… «Coppers.»

cows = a pound, 1930s, from the rhyming slang ‘cow’s licker’ = nicker (nicker means a pound). The word cows means a single pound since technically the word is cow’s, from cow’s licker.

daddler/dadla/dadler = threepenny bit (3d), and also earlier a farthing (quarter of an old penny, ¼d), from the early 1900s, based on association with the word tiddler, meaning something very small.

deaner/dena/denar/dener = a shilling (1/-), from the mid-1800s, derived from association with the many European dinar coins and similar, and derived in turn and associated with the Roman denarius coin which formed the basis of many European currencies and their names. The pronunciation emphasis tends to be on the long second syllable ‘aah’ sound. The expression is interpreted into Australian and New Zealand money slang as deener, again meaning shilling.

deep sea diver = fiver (£5), heard in use Oxfordshire (thanks Karen/Ewan) late 1990s, this is rhyming slang dating from the 1940s.

deuce = two pounds, and much earlier (from the 1600s) tuppence (two old pence, 2d), from the French deus and Latin duos meaning two (which also give us the deuce term in tennis, meaning two points needed to win).

dibs/dibbs = money. Dib was also US slang meaning $1 (one dollar), which presumably extended to more than one when pluralised. Origins of dib/dibs/dibbs are uncertain but probably relate to the old (early 1800s) children’s game of dibs or dibstones played with the knuckle-bones of sheep or pebbles. Also relates to (but not necessairly derived from) the expression especially used by children, ‘dibs’ meaning a share or claim of something, and dibbing or dipping among a group of children, to determine shares or winnings or who would be ‘it’ for a subsequent chasing game. In this sort of dipping or dibbing, a dipping rhyme would be spoken, coinciding with the pointing or touchung of players in turn, eliminating the child on the final word, for example:

• ‘dip dip sky blue who’s it not you’ (the word ‘you’ meant elimination for the corresponding child)
• ‘ibble-obble black bobble ibble obble out’ (‘out’ meant elimination)
• ‘one potato two potato three potato four
  five potato six potato seven potato more’ (‘more’ meant elimination)
  (In this final dipping/dibbing game the procedure was effectively doubled because the spoken rhythm matched the touching of each contestant’s two outstretched fists in turn with the fist of the ‘dipper’ — who incidentally included him/herself in the dipping by touching their own fists together twice, or if one of their own fists was eliminated would touch their chin. The winner or ‘it’ would be the person remaining with the last untouched fist. Players would put their fists behind their backs when touched, and interstingly I can remember that as children we would conform to the rules so diligently that our fists would remain tightly clenched behind our backs until the dipping game had finished. I guess this wouldn’t happen today because each child would need at least one hand free for holding their mobile phone and texting.)

dinarly/dinarla/dinaly = a shilling (1/-), from the mid-1800s, also transferred later to the decimal equivalent 5p piece, from the same roots that produced the ‘deaner’ shilling slang and variations, i.e., Roman denarius and then through other European dinar coins and variations. As with deanar the pronunciation emphasis tends to be on the long second syllable ‘aah’ sound.

dollar = slang for money, commonly used in singular form, eg., ‘Got any dollar?..’. In earlier times a dollar was slang for an English Crown, five shillings (5/-). From the 1900s in England and so called because the coin was similar in appearance and size to the American dollar coin, and at one time similar in value too. Brewer’s dictionary of 1870 says that the American dollar is ‘..in English money a little more than four shillings..’. That’s about 20p. The word dollar is originally derived from German ‘Thaler’, and earlier from Low German ‘dahler’, meaning a valley (from which we also got the word ‘dale’). The connection with coinage is that the Counts of Schlick in the late 1400s mined silver from ‘Joachim’s Thal’ (Joachim’s Valley), from which was minted the silver ounce coins called Joachim’s Thalers, which became standard coinage in that region of what would now be Germany. All later generic versions of the coins were called ‘Thalers’. An ‘oxford’ was cockney rhyming slang for five shillings (5/-) based on the dollar rhyming slang: ‘oxford scholar’.

dosh = slang for a reasonable amount of spending money, for instance enough for a ‘night-out’. Almost certainly and logically derived from the slang ‘doss-house’, meaning a very cheap hostel or room, from Elizabethan England when ‘doss’ was a straw bed, from ‘dossel’ meaning bundle of straw, in turn from the French ‘dossier’ meaning bundle. Dosh appears to have originated in this form in the US in the 19th century, and then re-emerged in more popular use in the UK in the mid-20th century.

doubloons = money. From the Spanish gold coins of the same name.

dough = money. From the cockney rhyming slang and metaphoric use of ‘bread’.

dunop/doonup = pound, backslang from the mid-1800s, in which the slang is created from a reversal of the word sound, rather than the spelling, hence the loose correlation to the source word.

farthing = a quarter of an old penny (¼d) — not slang, a proper word in use (in slightly different form — feorthung) since the end of the first millenium, and in this list mainly to clarify that the origin of the word is not from ‘four things’, supposedly and commonly believed from the times when coins were split to make pieces of smaller value, but actually (less excitingly) from Old English feortha, meaning fourth, corresponding to Old Frisian fiardeng, meaning a quarter of a mark, and similar Germanic words meaning four and fourth. The modern form of farthing was first recorded in English around 1280 when it altered from ferthing to farthing.

fiver = five pounds (£5), from the mid-1800s. More rarely from the early-mid 1900s fiver could also mean five thousand pounds, but arguably it remains today the most widely used slang term for five pounds.

fin/finn/finny/finnif/finnip/finnup/finnio/finnif = five pounds (£5), from the early 1800s. There are other spelling variations based on the same theme, all derived from the German and Yiddish (European/Hebrew mixture) funf, meaning five, more precisely spelled fünf. A ‘double-finnif’ (or double-fin, etc) means ten pounds; ‘half-a-fin’ (half-a-finnip, etc) would have been two pounds ten shillings (equal to £2.50).

flag = five pound note (£5), UK, notably in Manchester (ack Michael Hicks); also a USA one dollar bill; also used as a slang term for a money note in Australia although Cassells is vague about the value (if you know please contact us). The word flag has been used since the 1500s as a slang expression for various types of money, and more recently for certain notes. Originally (16th-19thC) the slang word flag was used for an English fourpenny groat coin, derived possibly from Middle Low German word ‘Vleger’ meaning a coin worth ‘more than a Bremer groat’ (Cassells). Derivation in the USA would likely also have been influenced by the slang expression ‘Jewish Flag’ or ‘Jews Flag’ for a $1 bill, from early 20th century, being an envious derogatory reference to perceived and stereotypical Jewish success in business and finance.

flim/flimsy = five pounds (£5), early 1900s, so called because of the thin and flimsy paper on which five pound notes of the time were printed.

florin/flo = a two shilling or ‘two bob’ coin (florin is actually not slang — it’s from Latin meaning flower, and a 14th century Florentine coin called the Floren). Equivalent to 10p — a tenth of a pound. A ‘flo’ is the slang shortening, meaning two shillings.

folding/folding stuff/folding money/folding green = banknotes, especially to differentiate or emphasise an amount of money as would be impractical to carry or pay in coins, typically for a night out or to settle a bill. Folding, folding stuff and folding money are all popular slang in London. Folding green is more American than UK slang. Cassells says these were first recorded in the 1930s, and suggests they all originated in the US, which might be true given that banknotes arguably entered very wide use earlier in the US than in the UK. (Thanks P Jones, June 2008)

foont/funt = a pound (£1), from the mid-1900s, derived from the German word ‘pfund’ for the UK pound.

french/french loaf = four pounds, most likely from the second half of the 1900s, cockney rhyming slang for rofe (french loaf = rofe), which is backslang for four, also meaning four pounds. Easy when you know how..

g/G = a thousand pounds. Shortening of ‘grand’ (see below). From the 1920s, and popular slang in fast-moving business, trading, the underworld, etc., until the 1970s when it was largely replaced by ‘K’. Usually retains singular form (G rather than G’s) for more than one thousand pounds, for example «Twenty G».

garden/garden gate = eight pounds (£8), cockney rhyming slang for eight, naturally extended to eight pounds. In spoken use ‘a garden’ is eight pounds. Incidentally garden gate is also rhyming slang for magistrate, and the plural garden gates is rhyming slang for rates. The word garden features strongly in London, in famous place names such as Hatton Garden, the diamond quarter in the central City of London, and Covent Garden, the site of the old vegetable market in West London, and also the term appears in sexual euphemisms, such as ‘sitting in the garden with the gate unlocked’, which refers to a careless pregnancy.

gelt/gelter = money, from the late 1600s, with roots in foreign words for gold, notably German and Yiddish (Jewish European/Hebrew dialect) gelt, and Dutch and South African geld.

gen = a shilling (1/-), from the mid 1800s, either based on the word argent, meaning silver (from French and Latin, and used in English heraldry, i.e., coats of arms and shields, to refer to the colour silver), or more likely a shortening of ‘generalize’, a peculiar supposed backslang of shilling, which in its own right was certainly slang for shilling, and strangely also the verb to lend a shilling.

generalise/generalize = a shilling (1/-), from the mid 1800s, thought to be backslang. Also meant to lend a shilling, apparently used by the middle classes, presumably to avoid embarrassment. Given that backslang is based on phonetic word sound not spelling, the conversion of shilling to generalize is just about understandable, if somewhat tenuous, and in the absence of other explanation is the only known possible derivation of this odd slang.

gen net/net gen = ten shillings (1/-), backslang from the 1800s (from ‘ten gen’).

grand = a thousand pounds (£1,000 or $1,000) Not pluralised in full form. Shortened to ‘G’ (usually plural form also) or less commonly ‘G’s’. Originated in the USA in the 1920s, logically an association with the literal meaning — full or large.

greens = money, usually old-style green coloured pound notes, but actully applying to all money or cash-earnings since the slang derives from the cockney rhyming slang: ‘greengages’ (= wages).

groat = an old silver four-penny coin from around 1300 and in use in similar form until c.1662, although Brewer states in his late 1800s revised edition of his 1870 dictionary of slang that ‘the modern groat was introduced in 1835, and withdrawn in 1887’, which is somewhat confusing. Presumably there were different versions and issues of the groat coin, which seems to have been present in the coinage from the 14th to the 19th centuries. Very occasionally older people, students of English or History, etc., refer to loose change of a small amount of coin money as groats. Sadly the word is almost obsolete now, although the groat coin is kept alive in Maundy Money. The word derives from Middle English and Middle Dutch ‘groot’ meaning ‘great’ since this coin was a big one, compared to a penny. The similar German and Austrian coin was the ‘Groschen’, equivalent to 10 ‘Pfennigs’. The word can actually be traced back to Roman times, when a ‘Denarius Grossus’ was a ‘thick penny’ (equivalent).

guinea = guinea is not a slang term, it’s a proper and historical word for an amount of money equating to twenty-one shillings, or in modern sterling one pound five pence.

half, half a bar/half a sheet/half a nicker = ten shillings (10/-), from the 1900s, and to a lesser degree after decimalisation, fifty pence (50p), based on the earlier meanings of bar and sheet for a pound. Half is also used as a logical prefix for many slang words which mean a pound, to form a slang expresion for ten shillings and more recently fifty pence (50p), for example and most popularly, ‘half a nicker’, ‘half a quid’, etc. The use of the word ‘half’ alone to mean 50p seemingly never gaught on, unless anyone can confirm otherwise.

half a crown = two shillings and sixpence (2/6), and more specifically the 2/6 coin. Not actually slang, more an informal and extremely common pre-decimalisation term used as readily as ‘two-and-six’ in referring to that amount. Equivalent to 12½p in decimal money.

handbag = money, late 20th century.

handful = five pounds (£5), 20th century, derived simply by association to the five digits on a hand.

hog = confusingly a shilling (1/-) or a sixpence (6d) or a half-crown (2/6), dating back to the 1600s in relation to shilling. Hog also extended to US 10c and dollar coins, apparently, according to Cassells because coins carried a picture of a pig. I suspect different reasons for the British coins, but have yet to find them.

jack = a pound, and earlier (from the 1600s), a farthing. Perhaps based on jack meaning a small thing, although there are many possible different sources. Jack is much used in a wide variety of slang expressions.

jacks = five pounds, from cockney rhyming slang: jack’s alive = five. Not used in the singular for in this sense, for example a five pound note would be called a ‘jacks’.

job = guinea, late 1600s, probably ultimately derived from from the earlier meaning of the word job, a lump or piece (from 14th century English gobbe), which developed into the work-related meaning of job, and thereby came to have general meaning of payment for work, including specific meaning of a guinea. ‘Half a job’ was half a guinea.

joey = much debate about this: According to my information (1894 Brewer, and the modern Cassell’s, Oxford, Morton, and various other sources) Joey was originally, from 1835 or 1836 a silver fourpenny piece called a groat (Brewer is firm about this), and this meaning subsequently transferred to the silver threepenny piece (Cassell’s, Oxford, and Morton). I’m convinced these were the principal and most common usages of the Joey coin slang. Cassell’s says Joey was also used for the brass-nickel threepenny bit, which was introduced in 1937, although as a child in South London the 1960s I cannot remember the threepenny bit ever being called a Joey, and neither can my Mum or Dad, who both say a Joey in London was a silver threepence and nothing else (although they’d be too young to remember groats…). I’m informed however (ack Stuart Taylor, Dec 2006) that Joey was indeed slang for the brass-nickel threepenny bit among children of the Worcester area in the period up to decimalisation in 1971, so as ever, slang is subject to regional variation. I personally feel (and think I recall) there was some transference of the Joey slang to the sixpence (tanner) some time after the silver threepenny coin changed to the brass threepenny bit (which was during the 1930-40s), and this would have been understandable because the silver sixpence was similar to the silver threepence, albeit slightly larger. There is also a view that Joey transferred from the threepenny bit to the sixpence when the latter became a more usual minimum fare in London taxi-cabs. So although the fourpenny groat and the silver threepenny coin arguably lay the major claim to the Joey title, usage also seems to have extended to later coins, notably the silver sixpence (tanner) and the brass-nickel threepenny bit. The Joey slang word seems reasonably certainly to have been named after the politician Joseph Hume (1777-1855), who advocated successfully that the fourpenny groat be reintroduced, which it was in 1835 or 1836, chiefly to foil London cab drivers (horse driven ones in those days) in their practice of pretending not to have change, with the intention of extorting a bigger tip, particularly when given two shillings for a two-mile fare, which at the time cost one shilling and eight-pence. The re-introduction of the groat thus enabled many customers to pay the exact fare, and so the cab drivers used the term Joey as a derisory reference for the fourpenny groats.

And some further clarification and background:

• Brewer says that the ‘modern groat was introduced in 1835, and withdrawn in 1887′. He was referring to the fact that the groat’s production ceased from 1662 and then restarted in 1835, (or 1836 according to other sources). This coincides with the view that Hume re-introduced the groat to counter the cab drivers’ scam.
• Silver threepenny coins were first introduced in the mid-1500s but were not popular nor minted in any serious quantity for general circulation until around 1760, because people preferred the fourpenny groat. The silver threepence was effectively replaced with introduction of the brass-nickel threepenny bit in 1937, through to 1945, which was the last minting of the silver threepence coin. The silver threepence continued in circulation for several years after this, and I read here of someone receiving one in their change as late as 1959.
• The brass-nickel threepenny bit was minted up until 1970 and this lovely coin ceased to be legal tender at decimalisation in 1971. As a matter of interest, at the time of writing this (Nov 2004) a mint condition 1937 threepenny bit is being offered for sale by London Bloomsbury coin dealers and auctioneers Spink, with a guide price of £37,000. Wow.
• The silver sixpence was produced from 1547-1970, and remained in circulation (although by then it was a copper-based and nickel-coated coin) after decimalisation as the two-and-a-half-pee, until withdrawal in 1980.
• I was sent this additional clarification about the silver threepenny piece (thanks C Mancini, Dec 2007) provided by Joseph Payne, Assistant Curator of the Royal Mint: «… Along with the silver crown, half-crown and sixpence, the silver threepence made its first appearance in 1551 during the reign of Edward VI (1547-53). Silver threepences were last issued for circulation in the United Kingdom in 1941 but the final pieces to be sent overseas for colonial use were dated 1944. Once the issue of silver threepences in the United Kingdom had ceased there was a tendency for the coins to be hoarded and comparatively few were ever returned to the Royal Mint. The coin was not formally demonetised until 31 August 1971 at the time of decimalisation.»

k/K = a thousand (£1,000 or $1,000). From the 1960s, becoming widely used in the 1970s. Plural uses singular form. ‘K’ has now mainly replaced ‘G’ in common speech and especially among middle and professional classes. While some etymology sources suggest that ‘k’ (obviously pronounced ‘kay’) is from business-speak and underworld language derived from the K abbreviation of kilograms, kilometres, I am inclined to prefer the derivation (suggested to me by Terry Davies) that K instead originates from computer-speak in the early 1970s, from the abbreviation of kilobytes. For Terry’s detailed and fascinating explanation of the history of K see the ‘ K’ entry on the cliches and words origins page.

kibosh/kybosh = eighteen pence (i.e., one and six, 1/6, one shilling and sixpence), related to and perhaps derived from the mid-1900s meaning of kibosh for an eighteen month prison sentence. Cassells implies an interesting possible combination of the meanings kibosh (18 month sentence), kibosh (meaning ruin or destroy) — both probably derived from Yiddish (Jewish European/Hebrew dialect) words meaning suppress — with the linking of money and hitting something, as in ‘a fourpenny one’ (from rhyming slang fourpenny bit = hit). All very vague and confusing. Whatever, kibosh meant a shilling and sixpence (1/6). Like so much slang, kibosh trips off the tongue easily and amusingly, which would encourage the extension of its use from prison term to money.

kick = sixpence (6d), from the early 1700s, derived purely from the lose rhyming with six (not cockney rhyming slang), extending to and possible preceded and prompted by the slang expression ‘two and a kick’ meaning half a crown, i.e., two shillings and sixpence, commonly expressed as ‘two and six’, which is a more understandable association.

knicker = distortion of ‘nicker’, meaning £1. See entry under ‘nicker’. See also ‘pair of knickers’.

lady/Lady Godiva = fiver (five pounds, £5) cockney rhyming slang, and like many others in this listing is popular in London and the South East of England, especially East London. (Thanks Simon Ladd, June 2007)

lolly = money. More popular in the 1960s than today. Precise origin unknown. Possibly rhyming slang linking lollipop to copper.

long-tailed ‘un/long-tailed finnip = high value note, from the 1800s and in use to the late 1900s. Earlier ‘long-tailed finnip’ meant more specifically ten pounds, since a finnip was five pounds (see fin/finny/finnip) from Yiddish funf meaning five. There seems no explanation for long-tailed other than being a reference to extended or larger value.

macaroni = twenty-five pounds (£25). Cockney rhyming slang for pony.

madza caroon = half-a-crown (2/6) from the mid 1800s. A combination of medza, a corruption of Italian mezzo meaning half, and a mispronunciation or interpretation of crown. Madza caroon is an example of ‘ligua franca’ slang which in this context means langauge used or influenced by foreigners or immigrants, like a sort of pidgin or hybrid English-foreign slang, in this case mixed with Italian, which logically implies that much of the early usage was in the English Italian communities. Mezzo/madza was and is potentially confused with, and popularity supported by, the similar ‘motsa’ (see motsa entry).

madza poona = half-sovereign, from the mid 1800s, for the same reasons as madza caroon.

maggie/brass maggie = a pound coin (£1) — apparently used in South Yorkshire UK — the story is that the slang was adopted during the extremely acrimonious and prolonged miners’ strike of 1984 which coincided with the introduction of the pound coin. Margaret Thatcher acted firmly and ruthlessly in resisting the efforts of the miners and the unions to save the pit jobs and the British coalmining industry, reinforcing her reputation for exercising the full powers of the state, creating resentment among many. When the pound coin appeared it was immediately christened a ‘Maggie’, based seemingly on the notion that it was ‘…a brassy piece that thinks it’s a sovereign…» (ack J Jamieson, Sep 2007) If you have more detail about where and when this slang arose and is used, please let me know. I am grateful to J Briggs for confirming (March 2008): «…I live in Penistone, South Yorks (what we call the West Riding) and it was certainly called a ‘Brass Maggie’ in my area. Typically in a derisive way, such as ‘I wouldn’t give you a brass maggie for that’ for something overpriced but low value. It never really caught on and has died out now…»

marygold/marigold = a million pounds (£1,000,000). English slang referenced by Brewer in 1870, origin unclear, possibly related to the Virgin Mary, and a style of church windows featuring her image.

McGarrett = fifty pounds (£50). Initially London slang, especially for a fifty pound note. McGarret refers cunningly and amusingly to the popular US TV crime series Hawaii Five-0 and its fictional head detective Steve McGarrett, played by Jack Lord. The series was made and aired originally between 1968 and 1980 and developed a lasting cult following, not least due to the very cool appeal of the McGarrett character. Steve McGarrett was given the legendary line (every week virtually) «Book ’em Danno,» — or «Book him Danno,» — depending on the number of baddies they caught. Danno (Detective Danny Williams, played by James MacArthur) was McGarrett’s unfailingly loyal junior partner. For the record, the other detectives were called Chin Ho Kelly (the old guy) and Kono Kalakaua (the big guy), played by Kam Fong and Zulu, both of which seem far better character names, but that’s really the way it was. (Thanks L Cunliffe)

medza/medzer/medzes/medzies/metzes/midzers = money. Other variations occur, including the misunderstanding of these to be ‘measures’, which has become slang for money in its own right. These slang words for money are most likely derived from the older use of the word madza, absorbed into English from Italian mezzo meaning half, which was used as a prefix in referring to half-units of coinage (and weights), notably medza caroon (half-crown), madza poona (half-sovereign) and by itself, medza meaning a ha’penny (½d). Potentially confused with and supported by the origins and use of similar motsa (see motsa entry).

measures = money, late 20th century, most likely arising from misunderstanding medzas and similar variants, particularly medza caroon (hal-crown) and medza meaning a half-penny (ha’penny, i.e., ½d).

mill = a million dollars or a million pounds. Interestingly mill is also a non-slang technical term for a tenth of a USA cent, or one-thousandth of a dollar, which is an accounts term only — there is no coinage for such an amount. The word mill is derived simply from the Latin ‘millisimus’ meaning a thousandth, and is not anything to do with the milled edge of a coin.

monkey = five hundred pounds (£500). Probably London slang from the early 1800s. Origin unknown. Like the ‘pony’ meaning £25, it is suggested by some that the association derives from Indian rupee banknotes featuring the animal.

moola = money. Variations on the same theme are moolah, mola, mulla. Modern slang from London, apparently originating in the USA in the 1930s. Probably related to ‘motsa’ below.

motsa/motsah/motzer = money. Popular Australian slang for money, now being adopted elsewhere. Variations on the same theme are motser, motzer, motza, all from the Yiddish (Jewish European/Hebrew dialect) word ‘matzah’, the unleavened bread originally shaped like a large flat disk, but now more commonly square (for easier packaging and shipping), eaten at Passover, which suggests earliest origins could have been where Jewish communities connected with English speakers, eg., New York or London (thanks G Kahl). Popularity is supported (and probably confused also) with ‘lingua franca’ medza/madza and the many variations around these, which probably originated from a different source, namely the Italian mezzo, meaning half (as in madza poona = half sovereign).

ned = a guinea. A slang word used in Britain and chiefly London from around 1750-1850. Ned was seemingly not pluralised when referring to a number of guineas, eg., ‘It’ll cost you ten ned..’ A half-ned was half a guinea. The slang ned appears in at least one of Bruce Alexander’s Blind Justice series of books (thanks P Bostock for raising this) set in London’s Covent Garden area and a period of George III’s reign from around 1760 onwards. It is conceivable that the use also later transferred for a while to a soverign and a pound, being similar currency units, although I’m not aware of specific evidence of this. The ned slang word certainly transferred to America, around 1850, and apparently was used up to the 1920s. In the US a ned was a ten dollar gold coin, and a half-ned was a five dollar coin. Precise origin of the word ned is uncertain although it is connected indirectly (by Chambers and Cassells for example) with a straightforward rhyming slang for the word head (conventional ockney rhyming slang is slightly more complex than this), which seems plausible given that the monarch’s head appeared on guinea coins. Ned was traditionally used as a generic name for a man around these times, as evidenced by its meaning extending to a thuggish man or youth, or a petty criminal (US), and also a reference (mainly in the US) to the devil, (old Ned, raising merry Ned, etc). These, and the rhyming head connection, are not factual origins of how ned became a slang money term; they are merely suggestions of possible usage origin and/or reinforcement.

net gen = ten shillings (10/-), backslang, see gen net.

nevis/neves = seven pounds (£7), 20th century backslang, and earlier, 1800s (usually as ‘nevis gens’) seven shillings (7/-).

nicker = a pound (£1). Not pluralised for a number of pounds, eg., ‘It cost me twenty nicker..’ From the early 1900s, London slang, precise origin unknown. Possibly connected to the use of nickel in the minting of coins, and to the American slang use of nickel to mean a $5 dollar note, which at the late 1800s was valued not far from a pound. In the US a nickel is more commonly a five cent coin. A nicker bit is a one pound coin, and London cockney rhyming slang uses the expression ‘nicker bits’ to describe a case of diarrhoea.

nugget/nuggets = a pound coin (£1) or money generally. The older nuggets meaning of money obviously alludes to gold nuggets and appeared first in the 1800s. Much more recently (thanks G Hudson) logically since the pound coin was introduced in the UK in the 1990s with the pound note’s withdrawal, nugget seems to have appeared as a specific term for a pound coin, presumably because the pound coin is golden (actually more brassy than gold) and ‘nuggety’ in feel.

oner = (pronounced ‘wunner’), commonly now meaning one hundred pounds; sometimes one thousand pounds, depending on context. In the 1800s a oner was normally a shilling, and in the early 1900s a oner was one pound.

oncer = (pronounced ‘wunser’), a pound , and a simple variation of ‘oner’. From the early 1900s, and like many of these slang words popular among Londoners (ack K Collard) from whom such terms spread notably via City traders and also the armed forces during the 2nd World War.

oxford = five shillings (5/-), also called a crown, from cockney rhyming slang oxford scholar = dollar, dollar being slang for a crown.

pair of nickers/pair of knickers/pair o’nickers = two pounds (£2), an irresistible pun.

plum = One hundred thousand pounds (£100,000). As referenced by Brewer in 1870. Seemingly no longer used. Origin unknown, although I received an interesting suggestion (thanks Giles Simmons, March 2007) of a possible connection with Jack Horner’s plum in the nursery rhyme. The Jack Horner nursery rhyme is seemingly based on the story of Jack Horner, a steward to the Bishop of Glastonbury at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries (16th century), who was sent to Henry VIII with a bribe consisting of the deeds to twelve important properties in the area. Horner, so the story goes, believing the bribe to be a waste of time, kept for himself the best (the ‘plum’) of these properties, Mells Manor (near Mells, Frome, Somerset), in which apparently Horner’s descendents still lived until quite recently. The Bishop was not so fortunate — he was hung drawn and quartered for remaining loyal to the Pope.

pony = twenty-five pounds (£25). From the late 18th century according to most sources, London slang, but the precise origin is not known. Also expressed in cockney rhying slang as ‘macaroni’. It is suggested by some that the pony slang for £25 derives from the typical price paid for a small horse, but in those times £25 would have been an unusually high price for a pony. Others have suggested that an Indian twenty-five rupee banknote featured a pony. Another suggestion (Ack P Bessell) is that pony might derive from the Latin words ‘legem pone’, which (according to the etymology source emtymonline.com) means, «…….. ‘payment of money, cash down,’ [which interpretation apparently first appeared in] 1573, from first two words [and also the subtitle] of the fifth division of Psalm cxix [Psalm 119, verses 33 to 48, from the Bible’s Old Testament], which begins the psalms at Matins on the 25th of the month; consequently associated with March 25, a quarter day in the old financial calendar, when payments and debts came due….» The words ‘Legem pone’ do not translate literally into monetary meaning, in the Psalm they words actully seem to equate to ‘Teach me..’ which is the corresponding phrase in the King James edition of the Bible. Other suggestions connecting the word pony with money include the Old German word ‘poniren’ meaning to pay, and a strange expression from the early 1800s, «There’s no touching her, even for a poney [sic],» which apparently referred to a widow, Mrs Robinson, both of which appear in a collection of ‘answers to correspondents’ sent by readers and published by the Daily Mail in the 1990s.

poppy = money. Cockney rhyming slang, from ‘poppy red’ = bread, in turn from ‘bread and honey’ = money.

quarter = five shillings (5/-) from the 1800s, meaning a quarter of a pound. More recently (1900s) the slang ‘a quarter’ has transfered to twenty-five pounds.

quid = one pound (£1) or a number of pounds sterling. Plural uses singular form, eg., ‘Fifteen quid is all I want for it..’, or ‘I won five hundred quid on the horses yesterday..’. The slang money expression ‘quid’ seems first to have appeared in late 1600s England, derived from Latin (quid meaning ‘what’, as in ‘quid pro quo’ — ‘something for something else’). Other intriguing possible origins/influences include a suggested connection with the highly secretive Quidhampton banknote paper-mill, and the term quid as applied (ack D Murray) to chewing tobacco, which are explained in more detail under quid in the cliches, words and slang page.

readies = money, usually banknotes. Simply derived from the expression ‘ready cash’.

saucepan = a pound, late 1800s, cockney rhyming slang: saucepan lid = quid.

score = twenty pounds (£20). From the 1900s, simply from the word ‘score’ meaning twenty, derived apparently from the ancient practice of counting sheep in lots of twenty, and keeping tally by cutting (‘scoring’) notches into a stick.

shekels/sheckles = money. Not always, but often refers to money in coins, and can also refer to riches or wealth. From the Hebrew word and Israeli monetary unit ‘shekel’ derived in Hebrew from the silver coin ‘sekel’ in turn from the word for weight ‘sakal’.

seymour = salary of £100,000 a year — media industry slang — named after Geoff Seymour (1947-2009) the advertising copywriter said to have been the first in his profession to command such a wage. Seymour created the classic 1973 Hovis TV advert featuring the baker’s boy delivering bread from a bike on an old cobbled hill in a North England town, to the theme of Dvorak’s New World symphony played by a brass band. The actual setting was in fact Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset. Incidentally the Hovis bakery was founded in 1886 and the Hovis name derives from Latin, Hominis Vis, meaning ‘strength of man’. The 1973 advert’s artistic director was Ridley Scott.

shilling = a silver or silver coloured coin worth twelve pre-decimalisation pennies (12d). From Old High German ‘skilling’. Similar words for coins and meanings are found all over Europe. The original derivation was either from Proto-Germanic ‘skell’ meaning to sound or ring, or Indo-European ‘skell’ split or divide. Some think the root might be from Proto-Germanic ‘skeld’, meaning shield.

shrapnel = loose change, especially a heavy and inconvenient pocketful, as when someone repays a small loan in lots of coins. The expression came into use with this meaning when wartime sensitivities subsided around 1960-70s. Shrapnel conventionally means artillery shell fragments, so called from the 2nd World War, after the inventor of the original shrapnel shell, Henry Shrapnel, who devised a shell filled with pellets and explosive powder c.1806.

sick squid = six pounds (£6), from the late 20th century joke — see squid.

silver = silver coloured coins, typically a handful or piggy-bankful of different ones — i.e., a mixture of 5p, 10p, 20p and 50p. Commonly used in speech as ‘some silver’ or ‘any silver’, for example: «Have you got any silver for the car-park?» or What tip shall we leave?» … «Some silver will do.» In fact ‘silver’ coins are now made of cupro-nickel 75% copper, 25% nickel (the 20p being 84% and 16% for some reason). The slang term ‘silver’ in relation to monetary value has changed through time, since silver coins used to be far more valuable. In fact arguably the modern term ‘silver’ equates in value to ‘coppers’ of a couple of generations ago. Silver featured strongly in the earliest history of British money, so it’s pleasing that the word still occurs in modern money slang. Interestingly also, pre-decimal coins (e.g., shillings, florins, sixpences) were minted in virtually solid silver up until 1920, when they were reduced to a still impressive 50% silver content. The modern 75% copper 25% nickel composition was introduced in 1947. Changes in coin composition necessarily have to stay ahead of economic attractions offered by the scrap metal trade. It is therefore only a matter of time before modern ‘silver’ copper-based coins have to be made of less valuable metals, upon which provided they remain silver coloured I expect only the scrap metal dealers will notice the difference.

simon = sixpence (6d). The sixpenny piece used to be known long ago as a ‘simon’, possibly (ack L Bamford) through reference to the 17th century engraver at the Royal Mint, Thomas Simon. There has been speculation among etymologists that ‘simon’ meaning sixpence derives from an old play on words which represented biblical text that St Peter «…lodged with Simon a tanner..» as a description of a banking transaction, although Partridge’s esteemed dictionary refutes this, at the same time conceding that the slang ‘tanner’ for sixpence might have developed or been reinforced by the old joke. See ‘tanner’ below.

sir isaac = one pound (£1) — used in Hampshire (Southern England) apparently originating from the time when the one pound note carried a picture of Sir Isaac Newton. (Thanks M Ty-Wharton).

sky/sky diver = five pounds (£5), 20th century cockney rhyming slang.

smackers/smackeroos = pounds (or dollars) — in recent times not usually used in referring to a single £1 or a low amount, instead usually a hundred or several hundreds, but probably not several thousands, when grand would be preferred. Smackers (1920s) and smackeroos (1940s) are probably US extensions of the earlier English slang smack/smacks (1800s) meaning a pound note/notes, which Cassells slang dictionary suggests might be derived from the notion of smacking notes down onto a table.

sobs = pounds. Mispronunciation of sovs, short for sovereigns. An example of erroneous language becoming real actual language through common use. (Thanks to R Maguire for raising this one.)

sovs = pounds. Short for sovereigns — very old gold and the original one pound coins. For example ‘Lend us twenty sovs..’ Sov is not generally used in the singular for one pound. Mispronounced by some as ‘sobs’.

spondulicks/spondoolicks = money. Pronunciation emphasises the long ‘doo’ sound. Various other spellings, e.g., spondulacks, spondulics. Normally refers to notes and a reasonable amount of spending money. The spondulicks slang can be traced back to the mid-1800s in England (source: Cassells), but is almost certainly much older. Spondoolicks is possibly from Greek, according to Cassells — from spondulox, a type of shell used for early money. Cassells also suggests possible connection with ‘spondylo-‘ referring to spine or vertebrae, based on the similarity between a stack of coins and a spine, which is referenced in etymologist Michael Quinion’s corespondence with a Doug Wilson, which cites the reference to piled coins (and thereby perhaps the link to sponylo/spine) thus: «Spondulics — coin piled for counting…» from the 1867 book A Manual of the Art of Prose Composition: For the Use of Colleges and Schools, by John Mitchell Bonnell. (Thanks R Maguire for prompting more detail for this one.)

sprazi/sprazzy = sixpence (6d). A variation of sprat, see below.

sprat/spratt = sixpence (6d). From the 1800s, by association with the small fish.

squid = a pound (£1). Not normally pluralised, still expressed as ‘squid’, not squids, e.g., ‘Fifty squid’. The most likely origin of this slang expression is from the joke (circa 1960-70s) about a shark who meets his friend the whale one day, and says, «I’m glad I bumped into you — here’s that sick squid I owe you..»

stiver/stuiver/stuyver = an old penny (1d). Stiver also earlier referred to any low value coin. Stiver was used in English slang from the mid 1700s through to the 1900s, and was derived from the Dutch Stiver coin issued by the East India Company in the Cape (of South Africa), which was the lowest East India Co monetary unit. There were twenty Stivers to the East India Co florin or gulden, which was then equal to just over an English old penny (1d). (source Cassells)

strike = a sovereign (early 1700s) and later, a pound, based on the coin minting process which is called ‘striking’ a coin, so called because of the stamping process used in making coins.

tanner = sixpence (6d). The slang word ‘tanner’ meaning sixpence dates from the early 1800s and is derived most probably from Romany gypsy ‘tawno’ meaning small one, and Italian ‘danaro’ meaning small change. The ‘tanner’ slang was later reinforced (Ack L Bamford) via jocular reference to a biblical extract about St Peter lodging with Simon, a tanner (of hides). The biblical text (from Acts chapter 10 verse 6) is: «He (Peter) lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side..», which was construed by jokers as banking transaction instead of a reference to overnight accommodation. Nick Ratnieks suggests the tanner was named after a Master of the Mint of that name. A further suggestion (ack S Kopec) refers to sixpence being connected with pricing in the leather trade. An obscure point of nostalgic trivia about the tanner is apparently (thanks J Veitch) a rhyme, from around the mid-1900s, sung to the tune of Rule Britannia: «Rule Brittania, two tanners make a bob, three make eighteen pence and four two bob…» My limited research suggests this rhyme was not from London.

tenner — ten pounds (£10).

ten bob bit = fifty pence piece (50p). A rare example of money slang from more recent times, even though it draws from the pre-decimal slang, since the term refers to ten shillings (equivalent to 50p) and alludes to the angular shape of the old theepenny bit.

thick’un/thick one = a crown (5/-) or a sovereign, from the mid 1800s.

three ha’pence/three haypence = 1½d (one and a half old pennies) — this lovely expression (thanks Dean) did not survive decimalisation, despite there being new decimal half-pence coins. In fact the term was obsolete before 1971 decimalisation when the old ha’penny (½d) was removed from the currency in 1969.

tickey/ticky/tickie/tiki/tikki/tikkie = ticky or tickey was an old pre-decimal British silver threepenny piece (3d, equating loosely to 1¼p). The tickey slang was in use in 1950s UK (in Birmingham for example, thanks M Bramich), although the slang is more popular in South Africa, from which the British usage seems derived. In South Africa the various spellings refer to a SA threepenny piece, and now the equivalent SA post-decimalisation 2½ cents coin. South African tickey and variations — also meaning ‘small’ — are first recorded in the 19th century from uncertain roots (according to Partridge and Cassells) — take your pick: African distorted interpretation of ‘ticket’ or ‘threepenny’; from Romany tikeno and tikno (meaning small); from Dutch stukje (meaning a little bit); from Hindustani taka (a stamped silver coin); and/or from early Portuguese ‘pataca’ and French ‘patac’ (meaning what?.. Partridge doesn’t say).

tom/tom mix = six pounds (£6), 20th century cockney rhyming slang, (Tom Mix = six). Tom Mix was a famous cowboy film star from 1910-1940. Tom Mix initially meant the number six (and also fix, as in difficult situation or state of affairs), and extended later in the 1900s to mean six pounds.

ton = commonly one hundred pounds (£100). Not generally pluralised. From the fact that a ton is a measurement of 100 cubic feet of capacity (for storage, loading, etc). In the same way a ton is also slang for 100 runs in cricket, or a speed of 100 miles per hour. Logically ‘half a ton’ is slang for £50.

tony benn — ten pounds (£10), or a ten pound note — cockney rhyming slang derived from the Labour MP and government minister Anthony Wedgwood Benn, popularly known as Tony Benn. Tony Benn (born 1925) served in the Wilson and Callaghan governments of the 1960s and 70s, and as an MP from 1950-2001, after which he remains (at time of writing this, Feb 2008) a hugely significant figure in socialist ideals and politics, and a very wise and impressive man.

tosheroon/tusheroon/tosh/tush/tusseroon = half-a-crown (2/6) from the mid-1900s, and rarely also slang for a crown (5/-), most likely based in some way on madza caroon (‘lingua franca’ from mezzo crown), perhaps because of the rhyming, or some lost cockney rhyming rationale.

tray/trey = three pounds, and earlier threpence (thruppeny bit, 3d), ultimately from the Latin tres meaning three, and especially from the use of tray and trey for the number three in cards and dice games.

two and a kick = half a crown (2/6), from the early 1700s, based on the basic (not cockney) rhyming with ‘two and six’.

wad = money. Usually meaning a large amount of spending money held by a person when out enjoying themselves. London slang from the 1980s, derived simply from the allusion to a thick wad of banknotes. Popularity of this slang word was increased by comedian Harry Enfield.

wedge = nowadays ‘a wedge’ a pay-packet amount of money, although the expression is apparently from a very long time ago when coins were actually cut into wedge-shaped pieces to create smaller money units.

wonga = money. Less common variations on the same theme: wamba, wanga, or womba. Modern London slang. Probably from Romany gypsy ‘wanga’ meaning coal. The large Australian ‘wonga’ pigeon is almost certainly unrelated…

yennep/yenep/yennap/yennop = a penny (1d particularly, although also means a decimal penny, 1p). Yennep is backslang. Backslang evolved for similar reasons as cockney rhyming slang, i.e., to enable private or secret conversation among a particular community, which in the case of backslang is generally thought initially to have been street and market traders, notably butchers and greengrocers. Backslang essentially entails reversing the sound of the word, not the strict spelling, as you can see from the yennep example. Yennep backslang seems first to have appeared along with the general use of backslang in certain communities in the 1800s.

yennaps/yennups = money. Originated in the 1800s from the backslang for penny. See yennep.

Reprinted with permission from Business Balls.

1. Talking About Spending

Kasia: You’re going on holiday again?! How can you afford it? I can barely pay my rent each month.

Mikey: Well, I’ve been saving up for it.

K: How do you do it?

M: I make a budget for each week, so I decide how much I can spend, and what I can spend money on. That way, I know how much I’ll save.

K: But how does it work? I’m pretty careful with my money, but I find it really difficult to save much.

M: It’s the little expenses that add up. You buy a bottle of water here, a sandwich there, a takeaway pizza in the evening… They don’t cost much, but over time you end up spending more than you realise.

K: I guess you’re right. But, how do you stick to it? Don’t you just want to have a takeaway pizza once in a while?

M: Ask yourself: which would you rather have? Most people waste a lot of money on things they don’t really want. I really love travelling, so I’m happy to cut back on some less important things so that I can pay for it.

K: You’re right, but I don’t think I could be that frugal. I’m not a big spender or anything, but I really enjoy splashing out and treating myself occasionally.

Here’s a question: can you name three things you can do with money when you talk about money in English?

You heard a lot of useful phrases in the dialogue.

Of course, you can spend money. You can also save money or waste money.

You spend money on something. For example:

• I don’t spend much on food.
• He spends a lot of money on gadgets and technology.
• How much do you spend on rent every month?

You can use waste money in the same way:

• They waste a lot of money on things they don’t need.

Someone who spends a lot is a big spender. The opposite? Someone who spends very little money is frugal.

These words are neutral; they don’t have positive or negative associations.

What about save money? You can save for something, or you can save to do something.

Often, instead of saying save money, you can use the phrasal verb save up, which has the same meaning.

For example:

• I’m saving up for a holiday next year.
• We’re saving up to buy a car.

In order to save money, you can make a budget: you make a spending plan, and write down everything you spend so that you stick to your plan.

If you’re saving for something, you might need to cut back on other things, meaning that you spend less than usual.

On the other hand, some people aren’t so good at saving. Some people like to splash out; they spend money on things they enjoy. You can also treat yourself, by spending more money than you usually would in order to do something nice for yourself.

What about you? Are you a big spender, or are you more frugal? Do you find it easy to make a budget and save money, or do you like to splash out and treat yourself?

Think about these questions and how you could answer them when you talk about money in English. If you aren’t sure, remember that you can go back and review the dialogue and the explanations again.

Let’s move on.

2. Talking About Salary and Expenses

K: So, I’m thinking of moving to London. I got a job offer, but I’m not sure about the salary. It sounds good, but I’ve heard London is expensive, so I’m not sure.

M: I guess it depends on your lifestyle, but you definitely need more than in other places. My friends who live in London all make decent money, but they don’t have much left over at the end of the month. Mostly, they’re just getting by.

K: They offered me 25k. That would be okay in most places I’ve lived, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to make ends meet in London.

M: It’ll be challenging! That’s on the low side, for sure. Put it this way: I know someone who makes around 45k, and she says she struggles in London. Anywhere else, you’d be very well-off making that sort of money.

K: Hmm… I guess I’ll look for something better.

In most English-speaking countries, people talk about annual salaries: the amount you make each year.

Also, it’s normal to talk about the amount before tax.

For example, ‘25k’ in the dialogue means 25,000 pounds per year before tax.

In case you’re wondering, the average salary in London is around 29,000 pounds per year, while the average cost of living for a family of four is around 4,000 pounds per month, assuming a comfortable but fairly basic lifestyle.

If your salary is higher than average, you can say you make good money or make decent money.

In this case, you’ll probably be well-off: not rich, but with enough money to have a nice lifestyle and not worry about money.

On the other hand, if you only just make enough to cover your costs, you can say you’re just getting by.

This means that you have enough money to live, but not much more. If you say, I’m just getting by, it suggests you don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on eating in restaurants, going out, travelling, and so on.

For example:

• I don’t earn a lot, but I get by. –> Meaning: I make enough to pay all my bills, but I don’t have much spare money.

If someone doesn’t even make enough to cover their basic expenses, like rent, bills, food and transport, then they are struggling. You can also use the phrase make ends meet, which you heard in the dialogue. Do you know what it means?

Make ends meet means to cover all of your expenses. Let’s see some examples:

• I can barely make ends meet.
• He’s struggling to make ends meet.
• I don’t know how we’d make ends meet if we had another child.

If you say that someone can barely make ends meet, you mean that they don’t earn much money, and so it’s difficult for them to pay all their bills and cover their regular expenses.

What salary do you need to make to get by where you live? How much does someone need to make to be well-off? Think about these questions and how you would answer them.

Let’s look at the next section to talk about money in English.

3. Talking About Debt and Borrowing

M: Did you hear? He might lose his house. He told me he’s six months behind on his mortgage payments.

K: Seriously? I knew he was in debt, but I had no idea it was that bad.

M: He has other loans too, apparently. The car, the furniture: everything was bought on credit. He has three or four credit cards, all maxed out. He owes a lot of money.

K: What’s he going to do?

M: Well, he can’t even keep up with the interest, let alone the actual repayments. He’ll have to declare bankruptcy, but he’ll lose everything.

K: That’s awful. Of course, he should have been more responsible, but how could they lend him so much money? They must have known he wouldn’t be able to pay it back.

M: I don’t know. It’s a bad situation.

When you borrow money from the bank, you take out a loan. If you’re borrowing money to buy a house or an apartment, there’s a special word for it: mortgage.

The spelling is strange, so practice the pronunciation: /ˈmɔːgɪdʒ/

You need to repay a loan. Generally, you do this by making payments every month. Some of the payment is interest: an extra percentage which you pay to the bank.

When you finish paying back a loan, you pay it off.

If you have a lot of loans, then you’re in debt. This means you owe money. In the dialogue, you heard the phrase he owes a lot of money.

Let’s look at some more examples with this language:

• It’ll take us another ten years to pay off our mortgage.
• The interest on our car loan is ridiculously high.
• I never borrow money; I don’t like being in debt.

In the dialogue, we were talking about someone who had bought a lot of things on credit. If you buy something on credit, you take out a loan just to buy this one thing.

We also mentioned that he has maxed out credit cards. You max out a credit card when you borrow the maximum amount you can on it.

Finally, if you can’t pay back your debts, you’ll have to declare bankruptcy. Your debts are cancelled, but you also lose anything you have which is worth money.

So, think about some questions: have you ever taken out a loan or bought something on credit?

In your country, if someone is in a lot of debt, can they declare bankruptcy? What happens to the money they owe?

Again, think about how you would answer these questions, and review the dialogue and the explanations if you need to.

Learn more vocabulary with this Oxford Online English lesson on Opening a Bank Account.

Ready to move on? Let’s talk about money in English with one more thing.

4. Talking About Investment and Savings

M: Can I tell you something?

K: What?

M: I’m so excited! I’m going to be rich!

K: Really? How’s that?

M: I found this article online. It told me about all of these shares which are definitely going to go up very soon. I bought as many as I could. Now I just have to sit back and wait for the money to come rolling in.

K: Are you sure about this? How much did you put in?

M: All the savings I had.

K: And… Are you sure that’s a good idea?

M: Why not? These shares will take off, and I’ll double or triple my money. It’s easy.

K: What if they go down? You could lose everything!

M: It’s not likely. These companies are solid. It’s a one-way bet!

K: So, which companies did you invest in?

M: Well, one was… er… .and then… er… I can’t actually remember the names, but it’s very exciting stuff. Biotech, you know?

K: Oh, really? Well, good luck. You can buy me dinner when you’ve made your first million.

M: Deal!

What can you do with your savings?

You can keep them in the bank in a savings account, but you won’t earn much interest. Alternatively, you can invest in something, like shares, bonds, or funds.

You can say shares or stocks; both have the same meaning. You say stock market, but in other cases, share is more common.

You can invest in or put money into something. More informally, you can also get into something. For example:

• Do you think I should get into crypto?
• He put half of his savings into government bonds.
• You should only invest in shares if you know what you’re buying.

When you buy an asset, like a share or a bond, its price can go up or down. If it goes up very far or fast, you can say it takes off. If it goes down very fast, it crashes. For example:

• I bought Apple shares in 1989. I knew they’d take off one day!
• They lost a lot of money when the stock market crashed in 2008.

If you do well, you might double or triple your money. Triple means you increase something three times; for example, if you turn 100 dollars into 300 dollars.

If you don’t do well, you could lose everything or get wiped out. If you get wiped out, you lose all of the money you invested.

Let’s look at some example sentences:

• If you make 7 per cent a year, you can double your money in ten years.
• He put his life savings into Enron shares, then got completely wiped out.

If you had savings to invest, what would you invest in? Think about how you would answer.

Hopefully you got some helpful phrases, vocabulary and conversation examples to talk about money in English. Thanks for watching!

Video Transcript
Section 1
Well hey there! I’m Emma from mmmEnglish and in this lesson, we’re talking about cash! Moollah. Big ones. Bucks. Quid. Dosh. Dough. Coin. Money.

Now, most countries have their own currency – the name for their money. So..

• dollars
• pounds
• euros
• yen
• rupee
• dirham
• renminhbi
• dong

In fact, can you do me a favour and write the name of your country’s currency in the comments below this video? I’m curious to see just how many currencies we can collect down there.

But currency is not what this lesson is about. This lesson is about the nouns, the verbs, the adjectives that we use to talk about money in English and there are plenty!

The thing about money is, it’s a pretty dang important part of life really, isn’t it? So it’s no wonder at all why we have so many different words to talk about money including plenty of slang words. Plenty more than I’ve listed here. And these words are often unique to a place or to a community. They may not be understood by all native English speakers or even used by all native English speakers.

So if you’re visiting an English-speaking country, do a little research before you arrive because you’ll hear ‘quid’ and ‘skint’ in England but they’re not commonly used here in Australia. We would probably say ‘bucks’ and ‘broke’ instead, which is a little more like Americans. So when you’re in an English-speaking country, make sure you’re listening out for these words. Listen for the way that local people talk about money.

Now the noun ‘money’ is a universal word, you can use it anywhere in an English-speaking country. In Australia, you’ll hear people use any of these words to refer to money and more of them. But the most common ones are bucks, cash, coin and of course, money.

One of the trickiest things about money words in English is how they are used because dollars and bucks are countable nouns. So if you have more than one, it must be plural. Make sure you check your pronunciation on that, it’s very common for English learners to drop the plural ‘S’ and say “five dollar” which is incorrect, “five dollars”.

Now, ‘bucks’ is just an informal casual word for dollars. It’s a synonym.

Can I borrow ten bucks?

It has exactly the same meaning as “Can I borrow ten dollars?” It’s just more informal.

And often ‘bucks’ is used as a bit of a sales or marketing tool because somehow ‘bucks’ makes things sound cheaper or less expensive.

It’s only twenty bucks! Let’s get it..
What? Twenty dollars? I’m not paying that.
No.. it’s only twenty bucks. It’s nothing!

So this is exactly the same amount but using ‘bucks’ makes it sound cheaper somehow. So it’s a good sales tool.

‘Cents’ and ‘coins’ are also countable nouns relating to money.

Do you have any coins? I need them to pay for parking.
Sorry, I’ve only got fifty cents.

Now, ‘quid’ is countable but it doesn’t have a plural form.

It’ll cost you a quid.
Can you lend me twenty quid?

There is no plural sound. Now when you think about money like this, it’s easy to see how it’s countable, right? We know exactly how many dollars and cents we have in the bank. So of course money is countable, right? But actually, some English nouns that refer to money are uncountable and this has a huge impact when you’re using these words in English sentences. So to find out more about that, check out this lesson I made about uncountable nouns but right now, we’ll continue talking about uncountable nouns relating to money, okay?

‘Money’ is an uncountable noun and ‘cash’ is a synonym. It’s also an uncountable noun which means that they have only one form. There is no plural form. We would never say ‘monies’ or ‘cashes’.

Did you bring any money for the tickets?
I haven’t got enough money to pay for lunch. Sorry.

Now, this is interesting! Once an amount gets over a thousand, you’ll notice people saying ‘grand’ or ‘K’ and this just means thousand. So this is quite common across all English-speaking countries.

He earned 80K in three months.
We borrowed fifty grand from my parents to put a deposit on a house. So that’s fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

Now some nouns in English can be countable and uncountable. ‘Coin’ is like this. Coins are countable, you can see I’ve got several of them right here. Now this is the common use of ‘coin’, right? There are several coins here but ‘coin’ can also be used informally as a synonym for money.

She must be on some good coin. They’ve just bought a new house!

So this means she must be making lots of money. “She’s on good coin” not “She’s on good coins”

Okay so let’s talk about some verbs to use when you’re talking about money in English. So when you go to work, you earn money, don’t you? Have you ever wondered how much money someone else earns? Some people are much better at saving money than others, right? Some people spend their money straightaway as soon as they get it and then they have to borrow money from their friends and family. Do you know anyone like that?

When you borrow money from a bank, you take out a loan. So the bank loans you money, when you don’t have enough. So notice here that ‘loan’ can be a verb and also a noun. But the problem is that then you owe the bank money. I hate the feeling of owing someone money. I always try to repay that money as quickly as possible. When you loan money from the bank, you have to repay the money, right? With interest. So if you don’t blow all your money as soon as you get it.

That’s just an informal way of saying “Spend all your money.” So if you don’t blow all your money as soon as you get it, you may be able to invest the money. And when someone, perhaps a relative, passes away or they die, they might leave you some of their money. And when this happens, you inherit money.

So the reality is that most things cost money, don’t they? Not everything, but most things cost money. Goodness, there are lots and lots of different verbs to use with ‘money’, aren’t there? And also they can be used with the synonyms of ‘money’, as well. Lots of collocations to try and remember.

Let’s talk about adjectives that you can use when you’re talking about money. So it’s important to know that there are different adjectives to use with things. So the things that you can buy with money and people.

So let’s start with adjectives that describe things that people can buy. So of course, you’re probably used to the adjective, ‘expensive’, when something costs a lot of money, right? And ‘cheap’, when something doesn’t cost a lot of money. But I want to introduce you to a few other words, other adjectives. I want to push your vocabulary a bit further today.

So I want you to think about a situation where you bought something in the past and you were happy with the price. It wasn’t a cheap item but you were happy to pay the price. In your opinion, the value that you get is equal to the cost. The benefit of the item is equal to the amount that you will pay for it. So then, you can say “it’s worth it.”

We paid more for the house than we wanted to, but it’s worth it. It’s in a beautiful location.

You might also say that the price was fair or reasonable but if something costs more than you think it’s worth, you could say that “it’s pricey.”

I almost bought a new sofa today but I decided it was too pricey. I’ll keep looking for one that’s a little cheaper.

Now the adjective ‘cheap’ is not always a positive one. It can suggest that something is poorly-made, that the quality is bad. So if you want to say that something is cheap but express it in a more positive way, you could use ‘affordable’ or ‘economical’.

We need more affordable housing options in the city.
Catching a bus to Thailand is more economical than flying.

That’s a positive way to express ‘cheaper’.

So how can we describe people and their money? You probably know someone who is generous with the money that they have. They share it with everyone around them. They’re generous. Now if someone has a lot of money, you could say “They’re rolling in it.” As in they’re rolling in money. They’ve got lots of it!

Another common one, “They’re loaded” or even “They’ve got heaps of coin.”

Now if someone doesn’t have much money, you might hear “They’re broke” or “They’re skint”. So ‘broke’ is common in Australia and in America, ‘skimp’ is commonly used in the UK but both being that someone doesn’t have much money or any money.

I’m completely broke.

Now if you know someone who doesn’t like to spend their money, you could say “they’re tight” or “a cheapskate”. Now these are both insults, they’re not kind words. So don’t use them to talk about your friends unless you’re joking around.

My boss is so tight, he cancelled our Christmas party because there were too many people to invite.

So if you don’t mean to insult someone and you’re suggesting that it’s a good thing that they don’t spend their money, then instead use a different adjective like ‘thrifty’ or ‘money-conscious’.

My auntie is thrifty with her money, she doesn’t earn much but she lives comfortably.

Now if someone doesn’t like to spend money, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, is it? Sometimes that’s a really positive quality.

So I’ve introduced a lot of new words throughout this lesson. Lots of words to do with money. What I suggest you do, is take a few moments to write a paragraph right now. Write about the people in your life who suit these adjectives or things you’ve done with the verbs that we talked about earlier. Do you know someone who’s loaded or someone who’s thrifty? Tell me about it in the comments.

Practise using these words in sentences. I really hope that you enjoyed this lesson. Money is something that we all talk about a lot, don’t we? So I hope that you learned some new ways to express yourself today.

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