In 1737, Benjamin Franklin published The Drinker’s Dictionary, a long list of over 200 alternative terms and phrases for being drunk. On the other hand, good ol’ Ben never published a similar list of money slang — which I find to be curious when you consider that:
- Ben is one of America’s first and most-quoted personal finance experts, and …
- Everyone loves money
With that in mind, I thought I would challenge myself to put together a fun collection of 101 slang terms for money. Truth be told, what I thought was going to be a difficult task actually turned out to be quite easy.
So regardless of whether it’s paper cash, pocket change or even custom coins, I’ll start with money slang references to edibles and then branch out from there. So if you’re ready, here we go…
- chips
- bread
- dough
- roll
- cabbage
- lettuce
- kale
- bacon
- clams
- coconuts
- beans
- fish
- potatoes
- bananas
- buckaroos
- bucks
- fins ($5-bills)
- sawbucks ($10-bills)
- C-notes ($100-bills)
- hundies
- dead presidents
- Benjamins
- Franklins
- Jacksons
- grand
- Gs
- K
- smack
- smackers
- wampum
- bills
- moolah
- means
- checks
- drafts
- shrapnel
- wad
- plaster
- bankroll
- capital
- finances
- currency
- funds
- gold
- stash
- cash
- bundle
- fortune
- lucre
- chump change
- pin money
- shekels
- resources
- boffo
- fiat
- doubloons
- wherewithal
- treasure
- dibs
- bits
- dollars
- dinero
- pesos
- bullets
- coin
- simoleons
- silver
- pelf
- tender
- scrip
- pittance
- guineas
- gelt
- bones
- stake
- pap
- spondulicks
- quid
- specie
- jack
- change
- scratch
- wonga
- king’s ransom
- mint
- paper
- loonies
- mazuma
- pieces of eight
- frogskins
- long green
- folding green
- green
- greenbacks
- riches
- rivets
- big ones
- banknotes
- chits
- scrilla
- loot
Whew! That was fun!
Of course, ever since I first compiled this list way back in 2009, more than 100 readers reminded me of even more slang terms for money; I invite you to read them in the comment section below.
Oh … and after reading all of their contributions, if you want to add a money slang term to the list that the rest of us missed, then consider this a friendly challenge to please do so.
Photo Credit: stock photo
Yayo is cocaine…not money
Ah, now you’ve done it – I have to come up with another term. But word to your momma. I just checked with my homey from the hood and he confirmed your claim. He told me the correct term is “scrilla.” Thanks for the heads up! (Note to self: in the future stick to suburban, as opposed to urban, slang.)
Has anyone mentioned “bees and honey”? Cockney rhyming slang.
I love the idea of Cockney rhyming slang! All I know about it is from (oddly enough) the books that inspired the TV show “Call the Midwife.” I only learned a bit from those books, but I think it’s such a cool piece of linguistic creativity! I’m glad you brought it up!
Ok im thankful for this list…. tho here are some you forgot
Cheese, Chedder, Gwop, Stack, Grip, and Cents
I can’t believe I missed “stack.” I’ve used it before. Thanks for the additions!
Simoleans! Yes!
Haha, thanks for all those!!!! My neice and I are making a remake to Justin Bieber’s ‘One Time’ song…It’s about money.
When you finish, feel free to come back and share your lyrics here!
relish
I really did not know that there were so many terms/words for money. Thanks for the information. Now I just need the meanings of what the words mean.
Very good knowledge.
Lumber
feti
pop cans
Really, Barb? Well, I guess if the Fed keeps printing money as fast as it is currently doing, hyperinflation may eventually make candy more valuable than dollars. (Not that anybody with significant cash savings would want to see that happen!)
I didnt see “cake” or “gravy”
My current favorite is “Sacagaweas”. I just like the way she sounds.
You know, I like that one a lot too.
I just read this because I work in a cash business in New Jersey and we always joke about different slang terms for cash. Italians in Jersey say “escarole,” pronounced shcarol, with a hard “r”.
Interesting. My family is Italian, so I’ll have to ask my dad about that one when I see him later this week.
“Cream” is another one. Wu-Tang Clan made a song about it and alot of East Coast Rappers use it a lot. And yes, i rem the duckettes sucka fools lol
Cream is an acronym for Cash Rules Everything Around Me
Actually Cream as used by Wu tang is an acronym for C:Cash R:Rules E:Everything A:Around M:Me plus most people didn’t use cream to denote Money.
frogskins
No fair copying me, moos! LOL I have that one at #90.
Forgot about Keesh and Honey!!
That I did!
Here’s one from Northern Ireland – ha’pence.
You forgot chedder, cake, ends, funds. Duckettes is used on the east coast as well. Now I have a question for you guys. This dude I work with swears that dough is spelled doe. Dough comes from bread and scratch I thought. There for the spelling has to be dough. Doe is on urbandictionary.com but so is dough with the same definition.
Doe is a female deer. Dough is what makes bread, so I think Dough is right. Thanks, this was WAY better than what the thesaurus offered me!
in my younger days i had a boyfriend who would say “duckettes” for dollars. does anyone remember that slang word?
I never heard of it, but maybe somebody else out there has?
I think it’s spelled “duckits.”
Ducats were Italian coins used in medieval times
Before I would go out, my dad would ask if I had any “dookey”. I wonder if that was slang for ducat? I use this expression with my son now.
Probably was …
I remember ducats.
In the penitentiary, ducat was the slang word for money.
“Homie, I got ducats for squares. Let’s hit the commissary.”
(a square is a jailhouse word for cigarette’s)
Duckettes sounds like an accented pronunciation of ‘ducats’
One more for the list: wonga
Great point, Macs, about ducats. Never heard of “wonga.” Thanks for the addition!
Don’t forget the change. what we have left after the Feds tax everything.
Yes, I heard “duckets” as a kid. Everyone said it. I’m from L.A. and AA, maybe it’s a cultural thang.
Some money slang from my Colombian friend, “plato” and “limonada”.
Enjoyed this, thank you!
First things first: are you really Ms. November? Wait until I tell my buddies at work that Ms. November reads my blog!!!
Thanks for the additions to my list too.
I always referred to duckets when talking about money. I was born In Cali also! Could definitely be a cultural thing.
Hi Len, Before reading the article I thought: Oh, if someone wants to pay me in some currency other than money-what about candy? I love candy and would gladly accept a small amount of candy, or costume jewelry instead of a cash payment
Lets not forget Euros,marks,USD, Pesos, Guilders, Drachmae, Rupees, Dinars, Yen, shillings, Won, Ringgits, Rubles and Baht, Just to name a few of the more colorful. and just plain ole walking around money
Obvious, but very very true, Durand.
But Euros,marks,USD,Rupee are not money slang
Dosh
.. and btw, “ducats” is from William Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” if I remember my schooling aright. Right there with “pound of flesh.”
It’s used in Merchant of Venice because the ducat was an actual unit of currency in Italy (and most parts of Europe). It shows up in other Shakespeare plays too (like Hamlet, where the prince shouts “Dead for a ducat, dead!” right before stabbing Polonius through the curtains).
How about “do re mi” and “boodle”?
I always say “paper gold”, but I don’t think that’s an official replacement. Add it if you’d like, but it’s probably not going to be understood by a lot of people. Do whatever you’d like!
What about Mangos, Tips, and Packers *You know the name in the Greenbay Packers right?*
@Helen: I like it!
@KiLIERr: Mangos, nice. I like the other two too. Who are the Green Bay Packers?
Johnny: Yep, you aren’t the first commenter to recommend cheddar. That was pretty obvious and I should have caught that one! Thank you for the other three. I’m with you, it’s spelled “dough” because of the reference to “bread.” I think urbandictionary.com missed the mark on that one.
Did you have Reddies, or have I missed it?
I thought it was “readies”–as in “ready money” (meaning cash, not credit).
scrilla
That’s already listed (see #100)
How about bounty and booty
I guess a bounty of booty would be bootilicious
Or is that bountylicious
Or maybe could go with Bootiful (an attractive ghost?)
-John
Freaking awesome! Don’t forget booty!
@John and @Australia: Booty was so obvious. I can’t believe I missed that one.
you forgot “paper”
“At his new job, Joe’s makin PAPER!”
I’ve also heard a similar phrase using “bank” —
“Joe’s makin BANK at his new job!”
Another addition might be Abe for a fiver (oh! that’s one too).
“Grab on to Abe, man.”
Skrizz, Fettija,
Skrizz? Hmmm… I thought that meant really good, or very high quality?
Fettija is another strange one, Kash. I just googled the term and it came up empty.
How about presidential portraits?
Noted!
how about the philly term MUGGA
Coo. It was used in NYC when I was kid.
Duckies Coin Geetas
what about WAM (Walking Around Money)
Term used by brother-in-law that I always admired – Fun Tickets
THAT is one of the best slang terms for money I’ve ever heard. I think I’ll start using that one too, Mike. Thanks for sharing it.
We used to call them “yuppie coupons” because at the time ATMs only spit out $20 bills and it seemed to be a yuppie “thing” to use the ATM as a status symbol. Thanks for the effort to put together such a fun list. I wrote down most of them so I won’t forget! Don
Yep I agree with Duckettes too! Like Kid Rock said…”givin’ all my duckettes to Uncle Sam..” Great job on this! DEFinately terms I’ve not heard before!
Thanks, Amy. We try to please here at Len Penzo dot Com!
I’m from Maryland and we say “ends”. Guess it comes from making ends meet…
I suspect you’re right, Angela.
HOW bout SLUGS,CHIPPAS,BIG FACE’S
Sponduli
How about an Anthony
Hmmm. I’ve never heard of that one. What is it in reference to?
Likely for the Susan B Anthony dollar coin. But I haven’t heard it in actual use.
Additional names for money:
float
dancy
scratch
An old friend of mine used to call it, mazuma.
I could be wrong because I often am, but I think the proper spelling would be ducats, which is also slang for tickets.
I’m writing a piece for DD 214 Chronicle, the veterans newspaper in northeast Ohio, and money is the subject. Money is much more than legal tender. Matter of fact, I sometimes think its status as legal tender is the least of its uses. Money is a status symbol, a weapon, a gift, a building block or foundation, and maybe the one thing we think about more than sex. It can make us feel secure or send us into anxiety attacks.
Thanks for the list and thanks to the many contributors who 1.) made further reading a pleasure, and 2.) made my job easier.
John H. Tidyman
You’re very welcome, John. Good luck on the article.
im dominican raised in NY but i kno mexicans call money La Feria
if you know so many money words could you help me decode this my bro told me i would never figure it out so far i havent the letters are scrambeled up please help
these are the letters:
skppaatcre
i have no idea what it says plz plz plz help me out
I think your bro is pulling your leg. In the meantime, why don’t you challenge him to solve this one: sgjfkxjzhkjkjsequ
It looks like paper stack. Thats all I could do with the letters. Dont know if thats a money term or not.
Hey Rocker Girl–you may already have found these, but I came up with:
Paper stack
Stack paper
Tacks paper
Sack tapper
In the south we say shams
Did anyone say “Lira” or “Lire”? Also “ten spot” for a ten dollar bill, and “do-re-mi” (slang for “dough”)?
Also “singles”, “fiver”, “mad money”
I haven’t seen the term” Large”. I’ve heard that used the same way as grand, or K
Yes, that’s a very good one. I actually hear that quite a bit.
what about credit/cred
Great list,I did not see the word “Mulla”
or “moola” … yes!
licks , chickens , paper cuts , benjies
dookies , fevers , x five
That last one seems a bit odd.
in reply to Ms. November: your Colombian friend said “plata.” plato is plate: may I have a plato of frijoles, por favor. Plata is very common in Mexico, Central and South America.
how could you miss cake lol.
shillings, milk, big ones.
we used to call money “mike”
you cant forget “chedda”
To rockergirl315 – It looks like ‘paper stack’. That’s all I could do with the letters. Don’t know if that’s a money term or not.
In an old Disneyworld/land reference, we used to call Hundreds “E-tickets” or “Bennies” (clearly short for “Benjamins.”) We would also refer to any note by its President; Lincolns, Hamiltons or Hamiltonians, Grants or Ulysses. “Scratch” continues to be my favorite, though. Fun read; thanks.
what about “GWOP”?
“Fun Tickets” for $100 dollar bills.
Also Another name is Yardskins Read that in the Kid’s Money Book
In Ireland slang for euros is yoyo’s.
Hey son: I do not remember if I mentioned to you. When I was growing up the slang for money was chrome. You may want to add it to your list.
Love yaa, Dad
You just did it for me, Dad. Love you too!
Dead Presidents
I don’t know if it’s been listen yet, but “moolah” was super common while grewing up in Jersey and Queens. I still use it sometimes.
You forgot cheese.
marks
also grapes used to say gotta pick these grapes off a vine
it means make money in my hood
babit
Where I’m from Babbitt is a term meaning annoying or something. I would say “go sit down u lil Babbitt “to a kid or man u acting like a Babbitt to an adult
me and my friend say Cotton because apparantly thats what money is made out of
I’m from the Bahamas and we used to say gwalla gwalla or gunky when some one had alot of money “hey man yourpockets is gunky”. Ever heard it?
I didn’t see … Double sawbuck ($20) or check or checker ($1)
Half C ($50) 5 spot, Lincoln, fiver ($5)
What about, in reference to money, using “cha-ching?”
Maybe…?
Absolutely!
Also, really happy you put king’s ransom. 🙂
This list, and the resulting comments, really came in handy when my room mate and I were trying to decide how many ways we could write “MONEY” on our Pringles can covered in black duct tape and made into a coin container. 🙂
Squirrel. I was mugged in St. Louis years ago and the young gentlemen wanting my stash were asking for me to release my squirrel. They then in their excitement asked me to relinquish my money. Had they simply just stated to give me your loot (or any of these other alternatives) I would have done so! Killa
Woa! I never knew there were so many slangs for money 🙂 ‘Kale’ of all things and frogskins!!
Warning, pedantry alert:
Some of the terms in both the original list and in the suggestions in comments are, technically, *synonyms* not for “money,” but for specific denominations thereof.
(F’rinstance, “fin,” which is listed at #17, and
“sawbuck,” which I don’t think is listed yet, are both specific to $5 bills US.)
Other terms are also more limited in application than the general class “money.” “Chump change,” for example, is a trivial amount thereof.
That being the case, it’s interesting to note that there are a good number of terms for larger denominations — “Benjamins,” “C-notes,” “large” — but not so many for the smaller amounts — “ha’pennies,” “pfennigs,” “coppers.”
That’s understandable of course — the chump change isn’t worthy of too much attention, even in these times of low inflation and stable or descending wages for so many.
Thank you for providing this valuable service — esp since the ad revenue (is that already in the list? I coulda missed it, along with “remuneration,” since it’s not alphabetized) probably can’t approach its worth as a resource.
Considering the type of post this is — basically just a list of words, with no explanation whatsoever — I don’t think one can really leave a pedantic comment here. I find the comments portion of this article are just as important as the post itself.
One small correction: a “sawbuck” represents the US $10 bill. The nickname was supposedly borne because the Roman numeral for 10 is “X” — and the “X” is a visual representation of a sawhorse.
Almost forgot — here are a few more that I don’t think have appeared yet:
Valuta
Florins
Sterling
The necessary
Apologies if any of those have already shown up.
I love that “lucre” — one of my fave words — was on the original list. Ditto for “pelf” — I hadn’t seen that one in years.
What is the latest term in US to say $10,000;$20,000 etc?
Thanks
Ten grand, twenty grand, etc.
10k: one stack of “High Society,” ala Rounders. John Malkovich as Teddy KGB, Matt Damon buys chips at Teddy’s illegal poker game, $10,000 at a time.
He had 50k, I think, and that gets him 5 stacks of high society. I have no idea if that’s unique to the movie, or an actual slang term irl. [Shrug]
Anybody mention “coin” or “bank”?
Here are a few Portuguese names for money : pilim – guita – guito – tustes – carcanhol – massa – cobres – cheta – graveto – pasta . I hope it helps your slang terms money collection .
We call the Indian Rupee “Ghandis” because his face is on the bills; as in, dropping Ghandis or dropping Gs (which I see you already have listed, but I assume for a different meaning).
Thanks for that, Zennifer. Very interesting!
Yes, in the US, “G’s” is short for “grand” which is another terms for “thousands.”
Thanks for the fun post, Len.
I remember “Yards” as a description of $100. As in “..it cost 3 yards” meaning $300.
Baksheesh, floose anyone? N Africa?
oof
To be oofy is to be rich.
Don’t forget the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Vietnam we called money piasters
Duckets
Stones
You also forgot to mention Racks and Hundos.
Yes im a migos fan
Great article, Len. Very comprehensive.
Some more terms for money(in general), not denoting any particular denominations are ……
Shpilkis(or Shpilkus) – from a Yiddish term for wherewithal
Shek(short for israeli money SHEKELS) – example – “where’s my Shek” ?or – “You got my Shek” ?
Cashish/Casheesh(a play on the word CASH)
Casholian/Casholean(another play on the word CASH)
Montezuma(related to MAZUMA)
Monay/Monaye
Gelt(Hebrew word for money)
Bling/Bling Bling(a ghetto term for gold jewelry, but can also denote money)
Grease(as in “grease my palm”)
Smackoleans(derivative of SMACKERS) – more of a reference to a denomination
Ringa Ding Ding(way way out there term)
Moolani(derivative of MOOLA/MOOLAH)
Cha-ching(the sound an old cash register made)
Zoom Zoom(very rare term, hardly ever used)
Candy
Breadski(derivative of BREAD)
Doughski(derivative of DOUGH)
Butter
Skins(more of a reference to note or bill denominations)
Here’s some uncommon ones I tend to say that I didn’t see in the list – although they’re rarely used: Gish, Swash, Gamboni, and Dosh
Here’s a joke too!
Q: “What’s dead and in my pocket?”
A: “A president.”
If i were to say I liked those 4 terms so much, they were mathematical, algebraic even (!!) Would that mean anything to you?
I dont want to make any assumptions and go donking things up. (DONK DONK DONK!)
Well, c’mon and grab your friends, we’ll go to very distant lands……The fun will never end, it’s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!
Duckets was not on the list but more surprisingly to me was the fact that some of these were not necessarily slang for money rather than a name used for a different form of currency. I.e yen is not slang for money it’s a type of currency in china. Just like pesos Or euros.
Yes, they are currencies; but people who use other currencies use them as slang for their currencies.
By the way, yen is Japan’s currency — not China’s.
go, j, kuku, are some of the Nigerian money names! Some I baptized myself!
Hi how are you? Hoping someone here can help me out? There is a old Ronald Colemen movie called “If I Were King” … In the movie he says, “Why, for two whites you’d kill your own mother.” I assume two whites is slang for money? Hoping someone here might know??? Thank you. Billy
Billy: I am not familiar with the movie you are referring to, however I suspect the character actually said, “for two whits” — not two whites. The definition of a “whit” is “a very small amount.”
I use the term ‘ Stiva ‘ is this a regular currency somewhere or is it a ‘figleaf’ of my imagination?
I’m definitely using wonga now… I just love it.