Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-07
PICK OUT YOUR SLANG
FOR ExCHANGE.ME
Here Is an Alphabetical List Of All
Terms by Which Money Is
Known In the United
States

bits came from the motherland, up
to the present time, when every comic
opera has a new one the Yankee has
been thinking up new nicknames Tor the
stuff that his supreme passion Is pullt
upon.
Review them alphabetically. There
is the king of phrases, almighty dol
lar" the one the preacher, lay or pro-
fessional, will never tire OF quoting.
There Is American balm" doubtless
the invention of some distinguished Tor.
eign writer perhaps Dickens. "Antes
SAVIOR of the great American parioI
game "Bones" Is more modern, ana
recalls the bit of verse in q college
paper:
Said Eve until Adam.
Address me madam,
And cherish me higher than thrones,
For to you I've been worth,
whole dollar since birth,
For you know am one OF your pones
"Bluebacks" now out of date. was
akin to "greenbacks," which Is alss
heard less frequently than of old.
blunt" Is hard TO explain, except that
in the light OF the dictionary definition.
money may make less keen the poig-
nant" some of the sorrows OF nfe:
Doodle" comes direct from political
circles in New York, with Its sister
phrase, 1.-THE whole caboodle." "Brads"
and brass" are suggestive of the
metallic nature of money
Cans is probably near relative TO
the old Sctoch word which meant
.'power," the ability to do anything
"Carfares" betrays the utilitarian pur-
poses to which the practical American
puts his nickels. "Cartwheels' and
s.coach wheels" recall unpleasantly the
size of the obsolescent silver dollar.
Cash." perhaps the country's most
vulgar and disreputable word, Is prob
ably related to less usual phrase,
anl, nf4 n
in which money could be kept on hand
for instant use So, "spot cash..
Strangely enough both China and India
have coins named "cash." Gents" are
-hundredths of dollar. while
''centurys" are 500 bills.
"Change" is obvious and still pop
ular. Chicken feed" expresses con-
tempt that one does not always feel
"Chink' echoes the pleasant sound OF
''chips," sometimes known as "circlets.
circulating medium" like coin,
collateral" is borrowed by the slang
sters from a more dignifed usage.
"Currency," "coppers," "nickels' sill
yer," gold" paper" are more or less
obvious, while rags" pewter" tin,
s'rocks," salt" sand" Shot and
wind" are more or less disrespectful'
yet expressive.
Counter ringers" "jinglers," ''ring-
ers." "shiners," Shines" and spark
lers" betoken the physical delight peo-
pie take In the form in which money IS
put. Daddy dollars puts into words
the filial affection for "daces' other-
wise known as darby" phrases which
defy investigation.
"Dibs'' are in English dialect,
'knucklebones" then "jackstones.
and then money. "Dime" originated In
the Latin decimIs. and dollar In the
German ''thaler." The French dot"
meaning dowry, Is probably responsible
1otc a. n tdnOtaramuE.p
Dough-" the long suffering and much
bepunned phrase, perchance sprang.
from the same stock.
''Ducats" calls Shylock father, and Is
proof that the American public knows
Shakespeare. Dust" probably dates
from the days of 40. when public
knowledge in the ways of gold mining
spread abroad. "Eagle-bird" is more
or less descriptive. A pathetic list of
expressions is that which include 1.-The
essential" "needful" (and it's sister,
"Ned'), 1.-The necessary" Fat doubt
less grew out of fiat Of the land"
"Filthy Lucre" Likely to Last
FILTHY lucre" is perhaps the most
humorous phrase of them all. 1t Is so
ironic in it's suggestion of the attitude
of the American toward his money, and
at the same time so insinuating, that
it bids fair for years to come. to sur
vive other slang. Financial circles"
for dollars involves a pun. 'Fips" was
the survivor of "fppence" or five
penny bit" "Fivers," "halves," quar-
ters," funds, legal tender,' specie"
''tenners," ''V's," and ks" are obvi-
Gus colloquisms.
Hard cash" for coin stands over
against "soft money" for bills. Hard
scales and hard stuff and jdst plain
stuff" follow close after. 'Flipper-
ups" expresses an American tendency
and recalls a tabled incident in the
White House.
"Gelter'' comes direct from the Ger
man. The phrase "hogg" came from
the Irish, where 1t used to denote a
tenpenny piece. Honey" sugar" and
''sweeteners'' denote an epicurean de-
light in what is sometimes familiarly
called "jacks."
Levy is the survivor of eleven
pence, the value of the Spanish real,
which circulated in this country years
ago. Level expresses confidence in
money as the equalizer of all ranks.
'Loaves-and- fishes" and "shekels" are
Biblical.
"Open sesame" is straight from the
arabian Nights" suggesting the pos
sible solution of the secret Of Cas-
sims power over the cave of the Forty
Thieves. Louvre" came from the cant
of English thieves, and is OF obscure
origin, indeed.
name of Mompesson, an English mo-
nopolist at the time of James l. "Moss"
illustrates the hold which proverbs
have on American minds, specifically
the warning about rolling stone cre-
ating a slang phrase of it's own.
"Ocher'' referred to gold because of it's
color, and later to all money.
During the civil war there was cur
rent here Spanish coin worth 6A
cents, called the ''picayune," a phrase
which later meant a five-cent piece.
"Piie," "plunk," "plunker," "plugger"
and "sinker" are common.
"Poney" has the distinction of re-
ferrlng to large sum, 25 pounds, and
is of English origin. ''Posh" is an enig-
ma. purse convicts" betrays a sense
of figurative that surely must have
come from the other side of the water,
where the slangmakers are more I'M
aginative, though less genuinely in
ventive than Americans. "Quid." the
English sovereign, probably came from
the Latin for something" and in DEM
ocratic America 1t denotes anything.
Ready and its expansive descen-
dant ready come -down-John' speak
for themselves eloquently Reds" or
''red cent" denote the "color of your
money" when it's copper. Scrip" was
the old paper money of denominations
less than a dollar.
"Spondulix" is interesting. The word