Money slang comes from coins, banknotes, food, and words whose beginnings remain unclear. These 16 terms span dollars, pounds, and money in general; their earliest recorded uses are evidence of when a word was in circulation, not proof of who coined it.
How to read a money word’s history
A dated attestation is the earliest use identified by a cited source, not necessarily the word’s first use. An origin may be well explained, plausible but unsettled, or unknown. The entries below distinguish those things and identify the currency or region where it matters.
Dollar and coin-related slang
Buck
Buck usually means a dollar in North American usage and is also used with some other dollar-denominated currencies. Dictionary.com reports American slang use by 1856. A familiar explanation links the word to buckskins traded as currency in colonial North America. Historical evidence does show hides used in exchange, but the Bank of Canada Museum cautions that hides had no standard value and that buck became common long after that trade faded. The hide explanation is plausible, not settled; the Museum also raises sawbuck as a possible clue. (Dictionary.com; Bank of Canada Museum; Wordorigins)
Greenback
A greenback is a US paper-money note, especially a dollar bill. The name points to the green ink on the backs of US paper notes issued to help finance the Civil War. The color also served as a security measure against counterfeiting. (Bank of Canada Museum; Dictionary.com)
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Sawbuck
Sawbuck means a ten-dollar bill; double sawbuck means twenty dollars. The Bank of Canada Museum suggests that the Roman numeral X on older US ten-dollar notes resembled a frame used for sawing logs. It presents this as a possible connection, not a proven origin, and notes it as one possible clue to buck. (Bank of Canada Museum)
Two bits
Two bits means a quarter-dollar. The expression traces to the Spanish piece of eight, an eight-reales silver coin that circulated widely and could be divided into eight pieces. Two eighths made one quarter of a dollar; the Museum notes that an eighth was called a “bit” on Tortola. (Bank of Canada Museum)
Clam
Clam can mean a dollar or money more generally in American slang. Its origin is uncertain. Dictionary.com says the term probably draws on the historical use of shells as currency; the Bank of Canada Museum suggests a possible connection to cowrie shells used in economies and Indigenous trade routes. Neither account establishes a definitive derivation. (Dictionary.com; Bank of Canada Museum)
Simoleon
Simoleon is US slang for a dollar, recorded from the 1880s in Dictionary.com’s account. Its origin is unknown there. A blend of Simon and Napoleon has been proposed, but remains only a possibility. (Dictionary.com)
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Shekels is money slang recorded by Dictionary.com from at least the 1820s. It draws on the name of an ancient unit and coin, but the word also names Israel’s modern currency. Those historical and current uses should not be mistaken for the slang term’s own history. (Dictionary.com)
Ducats and duckets
Ducats, sometimes written duckets, is slang for money based on the name of historical gold and silver coins used in parts of Europe. The coins are the source of the slang label; the terms do not mean that a modern payment is made in those coins. (Dictionary.com)
Food and livelihood metaphors
Dough
Dough has meant money in slang since at least the 1830s, according to Dictionary.com. A common explanation connects it to bread as a source of livelihood, as in earning one’s bread, but that relationship is not proven. (Dictionary.com)
Bread
Bread has been American slang for money since at least the 1930s, Dictionary.com reports. The site suggests that bread’s everyday importance as food may explain the metaphor. This fits the proposed livelihood connection for dough, but does not establish a shared origin. (Dictionary.com)
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Cheddar
Cheddar is money slang with several proposed explanations. A popular theory links it to government cheese distributed in welfare packages, with the cheese standing for government benefits. Dictionary.com reports the theory but does not demonstrate that it is the word’s origin. (Dictionary.com)
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Money words with uncertain beginnings
Scratch
Scratch is American slang for money, with use traced to 1914 in Dictionary.com’s account. The source does not identify an origin, illustrating that a word’s history can be dated even when its creation is unexplained. (Dictionary.com)
Moolah
Moolah means money and is attested by at least 1936 in Dictionary.com’s overview. Its origin is unknown in that account. (Dictionary.com)
Spondulix
Spondulix is a slang word for money with several spelling variants. Dictionary.com and the Bank of Canada Museum list the term without settling its origin; Dictionary.com describes the origin as unknown. (Dictionary.com; Bank of Canada Museum)
Dosh
Dosh is British slang for money. Dictionary.com traces its use to the 1950s, while leaving its origin unknown. (Dictionary.com)
Pound slang
Quid
Quid means a pound in British slang and has also been used in Australia and New Zealand for a pound unit. Dictionary.com records it from the 1600s. A derivation from the Latin phrase quid pro quo is possible, but not settled. (Dictionary.com)
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