Informal terms for money amounts

Question

What informal terms are used in English as money amounts? I know the following US terms and I'm curious about the rest:

a grand: one/a 1,000 dollars or a thousand dollars or one thousand dollars

a buck: one/a dollar

When asking for a list of answers, the question should be marked community wiki. I have converted this question. — Robert Cartaino, Aug 15 '10 at 16:18
BTW, anybody interested in money, join us at http://money.stackexchange.com :-) — Chris W. Rea, Aug 15 '10 at 21:04

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 15 '10 at 14:07

7

Fiver = £5

Tenner = £10

Pony = £25

Monkey = £500

Also

Bob = 1 shilling (now five new pence)

answered Aug 15 '10 at 14:07

Plus Quid=£1 as others have noted; also "grand" can be used for UK pounds (also meaning a thousand) as well as for dollars. There are more slang terms here http://www.aldertons.com/money.htm although most of them are very uncommon (I've never heard them used), and some may even be made up. – psmears Jan 21 '11 at 14:27

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 01 '10 at 20:51

5

In the US, a “C-note” or “C-spot” refers to US$100.00.

Based on the British television shows that I’ve watched, a “quid” is £1.

answered Nov 01 '10 at 20:51

Jeffrey L Whitledge

765

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 15 '10 at 21:04

Here are a couple more I've heard around:

"big ones" ... slang for "thousands". Like "ten big ones" = $10,000
"mil" or "mill" ... short for "millions". "5 mil" = $5,000,000

And here are a couple for Canada specifically. Not amounts per se, but slang for some of our coinage:

loonie = the $1 Canadian coin
twonie or toonie = the $2 Canadian coin

score 4 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 01 '10 at 21:26

4

In casinos, a quarter is $25, a penny is $1, a dollar is $100, etc =).

In USA at least, you can say "kay" to mean thousand, e.g. five kay = 5K = 5000.

answered Nov 01 '10 at 21:26

Claudiu

10,911

1

This works in the UK too :-) (eg "He's earning twenty K" to mean £20,000) – psmears Jan 21 '11 at 14:28

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 15 '10 at 15:27

4

Sawbuck - $10
Large - $1000
Bit - 12.5 cents
Short Bit - Dime
Long Bit - 15 cents

answered Aug 15 '10 at 15:27

JohnFx

7,464

There is slang for a twenty, but I can't remember what it is. – Hot Licks Dec 22 '15 at 22:02
(And "bit" comes from "pieces of eight" -- a Spanish dollar cut into 8 pie-shaped "bits". The US "quarter" is hence known as "two bits".) – Hot Licks Dec 22 '15 at 22:04

score 4 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

With the growing popularity of Poker, a:

stack of high society

isn't just a "chip of the highest denomination" (usually $10000 in chips) anymore, but also 10000 actual dollars.

In the gambling community, you will find many other term to designate money amount.

Sawbuck, mentioned in JohnFx's answer is one.
But you also have:

Dollar bet: a $100 bet
Money: $500
Nickel: $5 chip
Quarter: $25 chip
skin or skoon: one dollar

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 08 '11 at 03:19

"Nickel" is the commonly used term in the US for a five cent coin and based on its primary metal content.

"Penny" is commonly used for the one cent coin. This term is borrowed from British English.

"Quarter" is shortened from "quarter dollar".

You'll occasionally hear something like "solid quarter" as in "Do you have a solid quarter?" when someone wants to exchange smaller coins of an equivalent amount.

While a "bit" does equal 12.5 cents, when you hear the term it will most often be used in the phrase "two bits" which refers to a quarter. The word comes from the practice of cutting apart old coins called "Pieces of Eight".

"Dime" is the name that the ten cent coin actually carries. The name comes from the Old French "disme" which comes from the Latin "decimus". It's the only modern US coin I can think of which does not indicate its value. None of them use numerals, unfortunately.

A "bill" is sometimes used for "$100".

"Five spot" and "fiver" refer to a five dollar bill.

Sometimes currency is referred to by the person portrayed on the bill. This is more common with "Benjamin" or "Franklin" ($100), "Grant" ($50) and "Jackson" ($20).

The phrase "Pieces of eight" was made famous (to me at least) by Long John Silver's parrot in the novel Treasure Island. — Jared Updike, Nov 01 '10 at 20:55
Don't forget a "C-note" for a hundred-dollar bill, and a "fiver" for a five-whatever note. — Jon Purdy, Nov 02 '10 at 00:04
It's all about the Benjamins - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_All_about_the_Benjamins — Scott Mitchell, Jan 08 '11 at 03:20
I've heard the solid quarter called a case quarter as well. — Davo, Jun 22 '17 at 11:19

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 01 '10 at 20:25

2

Tonne = Hundred

At least in Ireland!

answered Nov 01 '10 at 20:25

kguest

688
3
8
14

score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 01 '10 at 21:28

2

Quid

British slang for £1

Example:

That costed me 12 quid.

(12 pounds)

answered Nov 01 '10 at 21:28

b.roth

21,782

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 15 '10 at 15:30

2

There's the tanner (6d, 2.5p).

answered Aug 15 '10 at 15:30

Brian Hooper

36,868

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 16 '10 at 01:55

2

Yuppie Food Stamp = $20 (spewed from ATMs at lunch time)

answered Aug 16 '10 at 01:55

Chris Noe

1,962

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 19 '11 at 08:44

"Beer tokens" and "beer vouchers" refer to coins and notes of the realm, respectively. As an aside there was a brief time around the introduction of the £2 coin in the UK when beer could be found for £2, so these were literally beer tokens.

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Jan 08 '11 at 03:26

1

25 cents = two bits,

20 dollars = green ticket

answered Jan 08 '11 at 03:26

Hellion

59,365

score 1 · Answer 14 · answered Aug 15 '10 at 19:31

1

Hunid Stacks - many hundred dollar bills

answered Aug 15 '10 at 19:31

Chris

12,388

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Dec 22 '15 at 20:12

0

U.S. fin for $5 bill (probably from the Pennsylvania Dutch word for five).

answered Dec 22 '15 at 20:12

Bob

197

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Jan 08 '11 at 05:47

0

Megabuck = One million dollars.
Gigabuck = One billion dollars.
Terabuck = One trillion dollars (I don't think I've seen this one, but it makes sense).

answered Jan 08 '11 at 05:47

Phil Rand

319

Informal terms for money amounts

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