The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-12-20
QUEER SYNONYMS,
USED FOR MONEY
More Slang Phrases for 1t Than for
Anything Else in the
World

More Slang Phrases for 1t Than for
Anything Else in the
World.
New York Herald.)
An American has more slang phrases
for money than for anything else in the
world. Review them alphabetically.
There is the king of phrases, almighty
dollar" the one that the preacher, lay
or professional, will never tire of quot
ing. There is american balm.' doubt
less the invention of some distin-
guished foreign writer. perhaps Dick
ems. "Antes" savors OF the great
American parlor game. Bones" is
mode modern, and recalls the bit of
Said Eve unto Adam,
Address me as madam,
And cherish me higher than thrones,
For you I've been worth.
A whole dollar since birth,
For you know / am one of your bones.
''Bluebacks," now out of date, was
akin to "greenbacks," which is also
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 and poign-
ant some of the sorrows of life
| Doodle" comes direct from political
| circles in New York, with its sister
phrase, ''the whole caboodle." ''Brads"
and brass are suggestive of the me-
| tallic nature of the money.
| Can" is probably a near relative to
| the old Scotch word. which means
power" the ability to do anything
| Gar fares" betrays the unitarian pur-
poses to which the practical American
puts his nickels. ''Cartwheels'' and
| ''coachwheels" recall unpleasantly the
size of the obsolescent silver dollar.
| Cash. perhaps the country's most
vulgar and disreputable word, is prob
ably related to a less usual phrase
case" each of them referring to a box
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 one-hundredths of
a dollar, while Centuries are 500 bills
| Change" is obvious and still popular.
Chicken feed" expresses a contempt
that one does not always feel. "Chink"
echoes the pleasant sound of "chips."
sometimes known as ''circiets." Cir
culating medium" like coin and "col-
lateral" is borrowed by the slangsters
from a more dignified usage. "Curren-
cy," "coppers,' silver" gold" and
paper are moro or less obvious. while
rags" pewter 'tfn," rocks" salt
sand" shot and wind are more or
less disrespectful, yet expressive.
Counter ringers" 'jinglers.' ring
ers. Sinners Shines" and spar
kies" betoken the physical delight peo-
pie take in the form in which money is
put. Daddy dollars puts into words
the f1lial affection for "daces," other
wise known as darby" phrases which
, defy investigation.
"Dibs" are in the English dialect
"knucklebones, then .-packstones." and
then money. Dime" originated in the
Latin decimus, and dollar in the Ger
man 'thaler." The French dot" mean
! ing dowry. is probably responsible for
dots" "doots," and "docteramus.
Dough the long-suffering and much
bepunned phrase. perchance sprung
from the same stock
' "Ducats" call 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
D spread abroad. Eagle bird is more oil
t less descriptive. A pathetic list of ex.
5 pressions is that which include 'ths
g essential" 'needful' (and its sister
"Ned''), ''the necessary" Fat" doubt
less grew out of fat Of the land"
Filthy lucre" is perhaps the mos
humorous phrase of them all. 1t Is 81
ironic in its suggestion of the attitud,
of the American toward his money, anC
at the same time so insinuating, tina
it bids fair for years to come to surviv,
other slang. Financial circles fo
dollars involves a pun. "Fips'' was tn,
survivor of "hppence," or '.five-penny
bit" FLYERS" halves" quarters,
funds legal VS." and ks" are OBJ
vious colloquialisms.
Hard cash for coin stands owe
against soft money" for bills. Hard
scales and hard STUFF and just plail
: STUFF follow close after. "Flipperups
!. expresses an American tendency an
: recalls tabled incident in the Whit
= House
. "Mopus" probably harks back TO tn
: name of Mompesson. an English mo
d nopolist at the time of James l. Moss
4 illustrates the hold which proverb
: have on American minds. especially In
: warning about rolling stone creatin
, ! phrase of its own 'Ocher'' referre
. to gold because of it's color, and late
: to all money.
t During the civil war there was eur
j rent here a Spanish coin worth 81
cents, called the 'picayune,' a phras
I which later meant scent piecs
!. Pile" PUNK" 'plunker," "plunger
: and "sinker'' are common
: 'Poney' has the distinction of refer
+ ring to a large sum, E25. and is G
k English origin. 'Posh'' is an enigma
y Purse convicts' betrdys a sense nf tn
, figurative that surely must have com
from the other side of the wate
where the slang makers are more i'm
aginative, though less genuinely n
ventive than Americans. "Quid," tn
English sovereign, probably came fior
, : the Latin for Something" and in lem
;, ocra tic America it denotes anything
vi Ready and its expansive descend
1t ant, ready come down john spea
for themselves eloquently. Reds Q
"a red cent denotes the color OF you
= money when it is copper Script
v was one of the old paper money dc
e nominations less than a dollar
l. shin plasters was originally az
| piled to the continental money whic
. deprecated after the revolution unit
many folks thought it was good fo
d nothing except that use which its siz
l. and shape suggested. .1Shary- shins
IS may have been a eorollary.
= "Sicer" remains to be explained. ssh
T.