Money is something we all need and use and we have many words and expressions that we use when we refer to it.
easy money (money obtained for little work or from immoral conduct)
Sheila enjoys making cakes and makes a lot of money doing it. She says that the money she makes doing this is easy money.
Many people say that selling drugs is easy money.
hush money (money paid to stop someone from providing information)
The court found the defendant guilty of withholding evidence after receiving a hush money payment from the gang.
money talks (‘wealth gives power’ or ‘money makes things happen’)
Politically it was a bad move but the government received so much investment, they ‘had to’ say yes; money talks!
She did not want to sell her car but money talks. When I offered her £6,000, she changed her mind.
In The UK we also use different slang (informal) to refer to money such as:
dosh, spondoolies, smackers
I don’t have any dosh
Do you have any spondoolies?
600 smackers (£600) for a new phone?
quid
1 quid = £1 (also referred to as a singular in multiple amounts £5 quid, £100 quid etc)
quantifiers (informal)
fiver = £5
tenner = £10
score = £20
monkey = £500
Cockney rhyming slang (humourous slang originally used in the Eastend of London) – informal
a Lady godiver (fiver) = £5
an Ayrton Senna (tenner) = £10 (also referred to as an ‘Ayrton’)
a Cockle = £10
a Grand = £1000
bread (and honey) = money
Other commonly used expressions include
Cash cow (something that generates a lot of money)
Many people have found that selling things online is a cash cow
Money to burn (too much money)
They buy new property every year and have lots of parties, they must have money to burn!
£479 for a pair of jeans? You must think I have money to burn!
Serious money (a lot of money)
It is serious money to get into the property market
It cost serious money to build a new bridge between the two cities
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What expressions for money do you have in your country. What do they mean?
