Your English: Idioms: money

‘Money talks' as the old saying goes, meaning that money brings you power and influence. There are a number of idioms that describe people who have a lot of money or waste a lot of money on things they don’t really need. They spend money like water or throw their money around. They have money to burn and have more money than sense.

For such people, money is no object (they have a lot of money and can buy what they want). Perhaps the money they have is dirty money (money earned through crime) or they may be in the money (suddenly rich through money they have won or been given). Maybe they are in the fortunate position of earning money for old rope (earning money very easily without much work or effort).

If, on the other hand, you do not have much money and someone asks you to buy something expensive, you might say 'Hold on - I'm not made of money, you know'. If you are a bit short of money (you don’t have enough), you probably want to make sure you get your money’s worth (feel that what you have got is worth the amount you paid for it), as in ‘Get there early to make sure you get your money’s worth’.

If you are completely sure that something will happen, you can put your money on it, as in ’She’ll be late. You can put money on it’. And if you want someone to actually do something to show that they mean what they say instead of just talking about it, say ‘Put your money where your mouth is’.