Show me the money!

A Benjamin is not a buck: Learn the meaning of 11 slang terms for money

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Money makes the world go round, and in the U.S., there are more ways to talk about it than you might expect. From "bucks" and "greenbacks" to "dough" and "Benjamins," Americans have come up with a colorful range of slang and idioms to refer to cash. Did you know about these 11? Which ones do you use?

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The first entry on the list is probably the most used: The word cash was first recorded in the late 1500s, and its origins can be traced through the French word casse, meaning "case" or "box."

That, in turn, comes from the Latin word capsa, which also means "case" or "coffer." Both terms refer to containers used to store money.

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This self-explanatory term has been used in the U.S. for a long time, and it refers, quite simply, to the fact that paper dollar bills are green in color.

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The slang term "greenbacks" for U.S. paper money dates back to the Civil War era. At that time, the government began printing banknotes with green ink on the back.

This distinctive color was used as a way to help prevent counterfeiting. The nickname stuck around and is still used today to refer to cash.

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Much like the slang term "green," the use of "lettuce" to describe dollar bills dates back to the early 1900s and also references their green color.

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The slang term "coin" is often used to refer to money in general, and it is not limited to just metal coins.

Possibly, this has to do with the fact that coins have been used as currency for thousands of years, making their association with money strong enough for the term to become a generic way to refer to currency.

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There are a few different theories about why the slang term "cheddar" came to mean money. One of the most widely accepted explanations links it to government-issued cheese.

This cheese, often included in welfare packages, became associated with government benefits. Over time, cheddar shifted from meaning actual cheese to representing the money or assistance people received.

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As we have seen so far, food has been a generous source of slang. The word "bread" has been used as lingo for money since the 1930s.

Food is one of the most basic reasons people need money, and the slang term "bread" likely comes from the fact that bread is a staple food in many households.

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The last food-related term, "bacon," refers to money or earnings in phrases like "bring home the bacon." This expression dates back to the early 1920s and is widely believed to come from a county fair game in which participants would win a greased pig if they managed to catch it.

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"Benjamins" is another self-explanatory money-related term. Franklin has been on the $100 bill since 1914. Less commonly, other dollar bills may also be referred to by the people depicted on them, such as Washingtons, Lincolns, Hamiltons, and Jacksons.

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An idiom used to describe a large amount of money, commonly a thousand dollars, "big one" has been a popular slang term since at least the mid-1800s.

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The word "shekels" has been used in English since at least the 1820s. It comes from the ancient shekel, a type of coin used by the Hebrews, Babylonians, and Phoenicians in ancient times.

What about geese is silly?

Who said that rats were treacherous? 10 animals with unfair reputations

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Sure, sheep are obedient, and geese are loud. But when did we decide to start calling each other animal names? Since biblical times, we’ve been dragging innocent animals into our human drama to describe each other’s worst behavior. In this article, we’ll explore whether that’s fair, and what other traits animals like donkeys or rats could be identified with.

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"Donkey" doesn’t have to be as offensive as one might think. Donkeys aren’t stupid—they’re just cautious. Up until the 1800s, they were known primarily as hardworking animals. But around that time, they fell out of favor as people began to notice their stubbornness.

Today, calling someone a donkey implies they’re being obstinate—or, plainly, dumb—though it’s milder than other animal insults. We can partly blame Mark Twain for popularizing the term as a stand-in for silly behavior.

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Blame medieval farmers for this one. By the 1500s, pigs’ legendary love of mud and gluttony had made them the perfect metaphor for human greed and sloppiness.

Today, calling someone a pig might accuse them of being messy, greedy, or even violent, depending on the context. You can always upgrade it to "swine" if you’re looking for a classier way to call someone "awful."

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Snakes never did have a good reputation. Their association with sneaky, venomous behavior (already present in the story of the Garden of Eden) meant that by the time Shakespeare was learning to write, "snake" had become the go-to insult for backstabbers.

Today, it’s still the ultimate label for betrayal. Snakes do have a knack for hiding before they strike, and they are, after all, the subject of one of the world’s most widespread phobias.

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"Rat" is another word for traitors—and one no one wants to be called. Rats are blamed for silently spreading disease and fleeing sinking ships. Their sneakiness made them a metaphor for turncoats and informants as early as the 1600s.

But you have to admit: the fact that they know when it’s time to leave a sinking ship hints at their intelligence. They’re also highly social animals.

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Weasels earned their shady reputation by sucking eggs clean. President Theodore Roosevelt popularized the term weasel words in 1916 to call out the slippery language of public figures.

Today, calling someone a weasel suggests they’re manipulative or evasive, especially in business or law. Unlike "rat," which screams betrayal, "weasel" implies quiet trickery.

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This might be the nicest insult on the list. Someone’s light-hearted attitude—or their playful, absent-minded mistakes—might earn them a loving "silly goose" medal.

But why? Geese aren’t clumsy or silly at all. We might interpret their cackles as loud and erratic, but it’s simply the language they’ve developed to communicate with the rest of the flock—they’re highly social animals!

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It was around the 1920s that "turkey" became slang for a theatrical failure—what we’d now call a "flop." The myth that turkeys drown in the rain sealed their dumb reputation, though real turkeys are surprisingly clever. Today, calling someone a turkey is usually a light jab at their clumsiness or incompetence.

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Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire used "sheep" to mock blind followers, and the insult stuck. It’s still hurled at conformists who seem to heedlessly obey norms. The irony? Real sheep have impressive navigation skills and emotional intelligence.

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This one is hard to dispute: the image of lurking vultures is too unpleasant for them to earn any other reputation. Nothing says "exploiter" like a bird that feeds on corpses.

Since the 1500s, the behavior of professionals with shady morals or people who target anyone’s suffering for profit has usually been compared to that of "vultures."

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Buzzards are not vultures, and their name is used with a slightly different meaning. These hawks earned a mistaken reputation back in the Middle Ages. At the time, Europeans compared their behavior to that of noble falcons (good hunters) and concluded that buzzards must simply be lazy.

As a result, the word became a synonym for "incompetent" or "uncooperative."