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.