At WiseGEEK, we're committed to delivering accurate, trustworthy information. Our expert-authored content is rigorously fact-checked and sourced from credible authorities. Discover how we uphold the highest standards in providing you with reliable knowledge.
What Are Some Slang Terms for Money in the United States?
In the United States, there are many commonly used slang terms for money. Perhaps the most common is the term "bucks" as a reference for US Dollars. Other common slang terms for dollars include "cash," "dough," "moolah" and "smackers." There are various other slang terms for money as well, some of which are general terms and others that are specific to certain denominations of money.
Slang Terms for Paper Bills
Many slang terms denote paper bills but don’t distinguish an amount. In addition to the aforementioned terms, the slang terms "clams," "greenbacks" and "dead presidents" refer to paper bills. The latter term based on the fact that pictures of past U.S. presidents appear on the face of many bills.
Not all bills feature a president, however. The $100 USD bill, for example, features Benjamin Franklin. These bills are often called "Benjamins." Other slang terms for $100 USD bills include "bills," "C-notes" or simply "C's," which is a reference to the Roman numeral for 100.
Another letter used in reference to a specific monetary denomination is "K," which stands for thousands. If someone says, "I paid 5K," for example, it means that he or she paid $5,000 USD. "A grand" is another common slang term for money, and means $1,000 USD.
Many slang terms for money are used in reference to smaller denominations of paper bills. A $5 USD bill is sometimes called a "fiver" or a "fin." A $10 USD bill can be referred to as a "sawbuck." The number of US Dollars for any amount of money is often referred to as "bones," such as the term "50 bones" referring to $50 USD. "Bucks" is used in the same way, so "50 bucks" also would equal $50 USD.
Slang Terms for Coins
There are even slang terms for money that are used to describe US coins. "Two bits" equals 25 cents, or one quarter. A potentially confusing aspect of slang terms for money is that the names of coins are often used as slang terms for bill amounts. For example, a "nickel" might be used to refer to $5 USD, and a "dime" might refer to $10 USD. So the next time you're making list of your money savings, consider using these slangs for convenience. They should make the task easier and less time consuming than it normally is.
AS FEATURED ON:
AS FEATURED ON:
-
![Common slang terms for American money include "bucks", "greenbacks", "moolah", and "smackers".]()
By: Hugh O'NeillCommon slang terms for American money include "bucks", "greenbacks", "moolah", and "smackers". -
![In the United States, $100 bills are known as "Benjamins".]()
By: Andy DeanIn the United States, $100 bills are known as "Benjamins". -
![The slang term "C-note" refers to the Roman numeral for 100, which is C.]()
By: DinoZThe slang term "C-note" refers to the Roman numeral for 100, which is C. -
!["Dead presidents" is sometimes used to describe money because bills contain pictures of past occupants of the White House.]()
By: James Steidl"Dead presidents" is sometimes used to describe money because bills contain pictures of past occupants of the White House.
Discussion Comments
A dime is $1000. It is pretty common in sports betting or gambling.
$100: a honeybee
"grease my palm" = gimme (give me) money
anon258464 correctly used the lower case "k" as = 1,000. Large "K" is misused so often that it is essentially interchangeable in the non-science, non-tech world.
For science and technology: K = degrees kelvin, k = 1000 as a unit-prefix.
What are the latest terms in the US to say $10,000 or $20,000?
Any one heard of the term "fence post" when referring to money?
Cash, moolah, jack, dollas OR dollars, gwop, guac, guapo, bucks, greenbacks, paper, semolians, dub, dead presidents, stack(s), rack(s), hundo, hunge, hunnit, yard, fiver, tener, single(s), cheese, chedder *or* chedda, clams, cashola, bones, benjamin, benji, coin, dub, fitty, dime, nickel, tension, scrilla, big faces, grand(s), dough, bread, scratch, money, guacamole', lettuce, mail, cabbage, smackers, smackeroonies, chips,
c-note(s), g-note(s), bone(s), greens, wad, stash, cream, loot, bacon, duckets...
100 Dollar Bill - Cow. 50 Dollar Bill - Calf.
100 Dollar Bill and a 50 Dollar Bill together - Cow and a Calf.
Moolah, Green, Cash, Dough, are the only USA slang terms I've heard. I doubt if "cash" is even considered a slang term anymore.
Carney speak = fin, sawbuck, double, half-yard, yard, 5 spot when we had a 500 dollar bill, G note 1000 dollar bill. --Trooper John
$100-Hundie, heard this in Midwest casinos, as in "I made Five hundie", "or gimme a hundie."
A collection of loose change: smash. I read this in the book Junkie by William Burroughs.
$20: Twamp, initially referred to an amount of marijuana, now some use it to indicate Jackson bills.
Awesome article.
Since the advent of ATMs: $20 bill = "SMU" = "Standard Monetary Unit" because USA ATMs only distribute 20-dollar bills, unlike machines in most countries that give multiple denominations.
"SMU" is most commonly used by techies and geeks who use a lot of TLAs in their work and studies (TLA = three letter acronym).
What's a Celtic?
So does that mean the hundred k is equal to hundred grand, because k and grand both refer to thousand.
I absolutely enjoyed this article! I haven't heard the term "two bits" since my grandmother used it over 40 years ago. Nobody uses it today, and as for the poster above who used "scratch", that term was recently used in the movie Horrible Bosses. All very interesting.
Thank you for sharing this information. I'm not a native english speaker, so sometimes it gets very difficult to find the meaning of this slang terminology. Best.
you guys forgot: bread and jack, jingle, bone, cheddar, greens, nuggets, plums, wad, wedge, stash, cabbage, loot, pics of dead presidents, hog, bacon.
I had always heard of a $20 called a snap.
On the west coast:
1 - no one cares
5 - 5
10 - dime
20 - dub
50- 50
100- c-note, bill
1,000- stack
10,000 rack
$100 - also referred to as a barrel. $200 = two barrels.
1-singypoo
5-mija
10-tenant
20-bentley
50-black
100- Cocollo bait
1000-register
10000-bucket
the correct term is gwap as a reference to guacamole.
What's a somolian and why is it used to refer to dollars?
"Large" for $1,000.
Said this way (outta one side of your mouth): "laaaage..." "That mope owes Joey 50 large. He's history."
$20 Yuppie Food Stamp.
a 1,000 dollars is called a stack so a couple of stacks would be 2,000 dollars. Five stacks = 5,000 and so forth. Paper = money.
chedda, skrilla, duckets, moolah, cash, euros, dough, bacon, dollas, bucks ummmmm loot, bills, Benjamins, Bread, paper, Kala, big faces, gwap, dub, smackaroos. I think that about covers everything!
What is the correct spelling for guitus, gedus (rhymes with cheetus)
$100 = A Baby Maker
Scrilla, paper, kala, big faces
"Nickel and dime" means to pay a lot but in small increments, as in "The hotel rooms are cheap, but they nickel and dime you with extra charges." This has nothing to do with $5 or $10.
it's not guap, or gwap. it's guac, as in short for guacamole, because it's green. know your slang!
1 dollar = single
5 = feva
10 = tension
20 = dub
50 = fitty
100 dollar = hun-dun
1000 = bundle
all money can be greenbacks, bank, bread.
It's: 1 single
5 fin
10 sawbuck
20 dub
50 worker bee
100 bill
5 fin
10 sawbuck
20 Jackson
50 half yard
100 Benjamin
500 nickel
1000 dime
Scratch.
Below - it is not "GUAP" it is "GWAP". The term is an acronym for "George Washington on Paper" (or, dollars).
How about worthless? The FED is dismantling our economy.
some other words to describe U.S. currency.' Cheddah.' = Dollars. Government Cheese =Social Security checks, Welfare Checks, any form of entitlement money dispensed by the U.S Government. Earnings from work in the form of a paycheck on Friday is "Today the Eagle S*". although small pay checks may be spoken this way: "Today the Eagle Poops."
how do you say "gedus?" or how about some trim
A hundge is what we call $100.00. or like $300 is three hundge.
Smackeroos' i.e. "I'll give you 100 smackaroos' to paint my fence."
100 Dollars- a frog
To answer that last question moolah is simply just another term for money.
"K" stands for "Kilo", a thousand. Also, the actual phrase is "two cents' worth", not just "two cents'"; that's just more of the current practice of leaving out the preposition in colloquialisms - p.e., "hang", not "hang out", "pumped", not "pumped up", etc.
A common term from the 20's and 30's for the 100 dollar bill was "honey bee". That also spawned the slang "worker bee" for a 50 dollar bill.
What about 'paper'?
It's 'guap' not 'quap' and I think that just refers to a large amount of cash.
Common slang terms for $20 include "double Sawbuck" and "Twamp".
Thanks for the additions!
1 Dollar Bill - Buck
100 Dollar Bill - Bill
1000 Dollars/Bill - 'G' (Grand)
10,000 Dollars - Dime
100,000 Dollars - Quap
-Jason,Cleveland,Ohio
How about moolah?
Post your comments