Money Slang Special - What's the meaning of Moolah, Bread, Dough and Wedge in British Slang?

The Slang Podcast - Learn British English Now

Today we will be talking about money, something universal….however us brits have found many words and phrases to use when talking about it.
While the origins of these slang terms are many and various, certainly a lot of English money slang is rooted in various London communities, many sectors such as with street traders and gangs developed their own specific slang, which has produce some strange interpretations commonly used today.....so we are going to explore them now!
Our first word for money is Bread B-R-E-A-D. In formal English this refers to the food but within slang it represents money. This term stems from cockney rhyming slang and metaphoric use of 'bread'. Bread or bread and honey rhymes with = money. Bread also has associations with money, in a metaphorical sense as it can traced back to the Bible. Bread in the sense of money is also linked with the expression 'earning a crust', which alludes to having enough money to pay for one's daily bread.
Closely linked to this phrase, another word for money is dough D-O-U-G-H which appears to be based on "bread". Both words have been popular slang for money since the 1930s.
They could be used like this:
- "Do you have any dough? Or do we need to go to a bank?"
- "Its ok I have some bread for a pint at the pub"
Ok moving on to our next word for money which is Moolah M-O-O-L-A-H. If you have a lot of moolah, you're rich, you have plenty of cash. The word "Moolah" has an Indian origin. Moolah, in Hindi, means the root cause of something. This this slang word has many implications for the way we view money, that it is the root of all!
Last but not least we have Wedge W-E-D-G-E. In formal english a wedge is a triangular shaped tool, used to split open an object. Its connotations with money arise from when coins could be split into quarters so exact weights could be measured. The shape of these sections was a wedge. Nowadays "a wedge" is a pay-packet amount of money or the amount someone earns.
So there we go! Many ways to say money...
Next time you are with an english speaker and they ask you for a wedge, some bread or a bit of moolah you know what they are talking about!
Tune in to our next episode to find out how we can refer to a pound coin in slang, and trust me there are many ways.
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