Synonyms of money (in English)

dosh is used in UK, as are spondulicks (not so much nowadays), readies, dough (though that has an American sound to it to my ear)

two bits = 25 cents

A "bit" as currency comes from the Spanish peso or dolar. In the early days of the North American colonies, there was a shortage of English money, so Spanish coins were often used. The peso was worth 8 reales, hence the term "pieces of 8." Once the US established currency, a Spanish peso was the equivalent of a dollar, so a bit was 12.5¢.

Bit was a cant term for money by the early 17th Century, and by the end of the century was used for the Spanish real.

Don't forget Shave and a haircut, two bits

In British English, bit just became a synonym for coin, more usually the lower value ones. In particular in my childhood it was common to call the old threepence coin a threepenny bit, but other coins were bits too. It became much less common usage usage following decimalisation. Also, since people got into the habit during the decimal transition of saying "two pee" (2p) to distinguish new pence from "two dee" (2d) old pence, usages such as twopence became much less common, even when transition was complete and there weren't any old pence any more.

Bucks, cash, readies, coin (regardless of amount). Dough, moolah, money honey, shrapnel.

A pleasureable thread to read with many words for money that I havent used and in some cases haven't heard for years

The phrase "the long green" has popped into my head. I don't remember ever hearing it used, but somehow I know it.

A sawbuck used to be $10 bill, a double sawbuck a twenty.

A sawbuck used to be $10 bill, a double sawbuck a twenty.

And the mention of sawbuck reminds me that "fin" was slang for a five-dollar bill.

Not to be confused with a Mickey Finn, a drug-laced drink used to knock someone out. I didn't know until now that the term has a Chicago connection.

"Fin" must be from German or Yidish or both.

And that reminds me there was also "finnif" = $5 bill. That's more obviously German or Yiddish, funf. Fin may have been shortened from that.

Edited by: VinnyD when he thought of finnif.

Oooh forgot about bennies. Interesting that it's another word used even though it should, you would think, be quite country specific. Obviously, however, the word has moved away.

Leo Rosten, whose linguistic scholarship is shaky, attributes fin+ and +finif+ to the Yiddish +finf+ (the number 5). Mencken says it's the German +fünf. Chambers: Yiddish.

Other sources say it meant £5 before it meant $5, most commonly as finnip.

Wouldn't you know it, Wikipedia has Slang terms for money