2003.08.27 – MONEY

The money in your pocket

• Dosh, dough, wedge – These are informal terms for money.
• A fiver , A tenner . – £5, £10
• Twenty quid – £20
• A ton – £100
• A grand – £1,000
• Loose change – coins
• I’ve only got a few coppers. – I only have a few 2p and 1p coins.
• Plastic – credit/debit cards

Having a lot

• She’s loaded . She’s stinking rich . – She’s got lots of money.
• Trustafarians – People who receive money from their family or an allowance; the word is a play on Rastafarian (a believer in a religion which originated in Jamaica).
• I’ll buy you dinner, I’m cashed up tonight! – I’ve got plenty of money!

Not having any

• I’m skint / broke . I haven’t got a penny . – I haven’t got any money!
   
• I’m a bit short this month. – I don’t have much money till I get paid.
   
• I can’t afford it! – It’s too expensive for me, I don’t have enough money.
   
• I’ve reached my credit limit. – I can’t spend any more money on my credit cards.
   
• He lost his job last year and had to sign on . / go on the dole . – He’s now out of work and receiving financial help from the government. [If you sign on, you go to a government office and sign a form each fortnight to declare you are available for work.]

People who don’t like spending it

• He never buys a round ; he’s really tight. / tight fisted. / stingy. – That guy never buys drinks for other people – he’s mean / ungenerous.
• He opened his wallet and a moth flew out ! – He rarely spends his money. [Moths tend to live in clothes which don’t get used very often – so someone mean never opens his / her wallet!]

Some phrases

• That piano’s worth a fortune ! – That piano is worth a lot of money.
• It cost an arm and a leg! – It cost a lot of money.
• They get paid peanuts ! – They get paid badly.
• That restaurant’s a real rip-off ! – That restaurant overcharges; it doesn’t represent value for money.
• They don’t have two pennies to rub together . – They are very poor.
• The business went bust. – The business was declared bankrupt.
• That last bill completely cleaned me out ! – That bill used up all of my money.
• I’m skint. I blew my salary on a new hi-fi. – I’ve spent all my wages.