Simoleans are Real?!
#1 04-12-2015 
Last night I was watching a TV show set in the very early 1900s. Two characters were discussing payment and one guy tells the other that he's owed 4 "simoleons".

!!!!!!

I thought maybe I was losing my mind.

Replayed that bit and he said "simoleons" again.

Googled and it seems that indeed, "simoleon" is a US slang term for "dollar", from around that era.

Who knew? Clearly someone did. But not me!

So there you have it. Now we can claim to be quirky history buffs when we accidentally call money "simoleons" IRL.

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#2 04-12-2015 
* justJones knew that...

Tongue

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#3 04-12-2015 
* BoilingOil had no idea, though he has no trouble believing it.

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#4 05-12-2015 
Oh yes, I knew that. Simoleons, smackers, greenbacks, bucks -- all terms for dollars generally. You still hear all of those now and again, although "bucks" is currently the most popular generic. Then there are slang terms for different denominations: Benjamins, C notes, and Cs are all hundred-dollar bills. A sawbuck is a ten-dollar bill. A grand or a G refers to a thousand dollars, although the amount you hand over is usually made up of smaller denominations. (There is a thousand dollar bill, but not in general circulation.)

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#5 05-12-2015 
...maybe it's a US thing... i thought that was general knowledge. haha. I always liked "smackers", because i dont have any idea how that came to be synonymous with money. Possibly, for LeeFish we ought to choose "clams". =)

[Image: th?id=OIP.M417f0365ccf89d844f144a2fe7e34...;amp;h=300]

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#6 05-12-2015 
Didn't know smackers, but I *do* seem to recall "smackeroos". Not sure if that is something or not. I'm aware of bucks, Benjamins (or even Franklins) and C-notes. I know that a C-note is derived from the Roman numeral C, which represents a hundred.

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#7 05-12-2015 
I'd heard most of the others too, but not simoleons. Gosh though - there sure are a lot of slang words for money in the USA. We use "bucks" and maybe "a grand" but none of the others.

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#8 05-12-2015 
Well, nobody mentioned Moolah! that's a favorite. =)

There's dough and bread (which was probably derived from dough, if you think about it logically) and big ones... Geez, there's probably dozens more. We really ARE capitalist pigs, aren't we? God Bless America! hahhaha

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#9 05-12-2015 
Thanks, grinEvilly! I knew there were lots more I was forgetting!

"Smackeroos" is a variant of "smackers" that I had forgotten as well. Then there's cash, cash money (in specific dialects, this refers to large numbers of bills), and 25 cents is still (very rarely) called "two bits." "Four bits" and "six bits" are only used in cheerleader cheers (if indeed they're used at all) anymore: "Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar! Everyone for [insert two-syllable school/team name here] stand up and holler!" (At which point the crowd is supposed to stand up and cheer.)

I am in a parenthetical mood today. (Can you tell?) Smile

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#10 05-12-2015 
(05-12-2015 04:59 AM)grinEvilly Wrote:  ...maybe it's a US thing... i thought that was general knowledge.

I didn't know about it. Even if I'm fluent in English it's still my second language, so I'm not up on every single aspect of American slang. (Especially since AmEng isn't "my" English.) Shocking, I know. Tongue

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