اصطلاحات خیابانی - پول

Who want to rub a bank?

Jim and Joe or Joe and Jim?

Welcome to speak English now podcast with your host Georgianna the podcast that will help you to speak English fluently with no grammar and no textbooks.

Hi everyone! I am Georgiana, founder of speakenglishpodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.

In this episode, I’ll teach you some new expressions. You’ll learn different ways to call the American dollar.

And after that, you’ll practice your English speaking with a funny ministory.

In the last part of this episode I’ll tell you what to do if you get bored listening repeatedly?

You probably haven’t noticed it until now, but the truth is that there are many ways to talk about money in English.

Today you will learn many expressions that people in the US use when referring to the American dollar.

I’ll start with the most popular ones: bucks, dough, bread, cheddar, paper, Benjamin, Benji, etc.

The following terms are outdated or rarely used: bones, scratch, cheese, lettuce, salad, chips, cake, and cabbage.

The dollar has also been referred to as a “bean” or “bone.”

Buck- is slang for one U.S. dollar

The expression comes from the 18th century when deer (buck) skins were used as currency. “Buck” is still one of the most commonly used terms in the U.S. for money to this day.

Examples: “This dress has cost me 200 bucks.” “I only got two bucks on me!”

Benjamins or Franklins =$100 bills

The reason people call them Benjamins or Franklins is because the 100 bills carry the face of Benjamin Franklin.

$100 bill is occasionally called “C-note” (C being the Roman numeral for 100, from the Latin word centum)

Dead Presidents - It refers to all presidents that appear in the U.S currency.

Examples: “I don’t rap for dead presidents!” We’re gonna rob a bank and flee with some dead presidents.

The next expression is Dime - When you have multiple sums of ten dollar bills, you got a lot of dimes.

Examples: “I don’t have a dime on me.”

“Ten dimes are equal to one dollar.”

Grand=$1000

Example: “Be careful! The TV cost me 200 grands!”

And I’m sure you might have heard of word Nickel = Five cents coins.

Example: “I just found a nickel in the street.”

The expression Jacksons - refers to the president Andrew Jackson which is on the $20 bill.

Yards is one hundred dollars

Example: “I’ll have to pay 2 yards for the fine.”

Another expression Fivers: five-dollar bills

Example: “Can you lend me a fiver? I’ll pay you back tomorrow.” Very often money has synonyms related to food: For example broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, bread, cheese or bacon.

All these words are very often used as a synonym for money in the States.

The word Bacon means money

You probably know that many Americans like to eat bacon, especially for breakfast, but you can also use the word bacon when it comes to money in American English. Bringing ‘home the bacon’ means you’re bringing home the money.

Bread: money in general (in the analogy that just like money bread is a basic element of life.)

Cheese or Cheddar

This American phrase was born at the end of World War II. Social welfare packages included a good piece of cheese - so getting your cheese means getting your benefits. Today in the U.S people often refer to money as cheddar.

You can also could use the word Dough - If you got the dough, then you definitely have some cash.

Okay Now, you can practice with a mini-story. You’ll be able to go over the vocabulary we saw in the first section.

A mini-story is very simple. I give you information using phrases and, then I ask you questions.

I recommend you to listen several times until it’s easy to answer. Just relax and enjoy!

Let’s start!

Jim and Joe were two burglars who wanted to rob a bank at night.

Were they two burglars or two cops?

There weren’t cops. They were two burglars.

Did they want to rob a bank or open an account?

No. No. They didn’t want to open an account. They wanted to rob a bank.

What did they want to rob? A candy store?

No. They didn’t want to rob a candy store. They wanted to rob a bank!

When did they want to rob a bank. In the morning?

No, no. They didn’t want to rob a bank in the morning. They wanted to rob a bank at night.

Who wanted to rob a bank? Jim and Joe or Joe or Jim?

Well, I guess it’s the same thing. Jim and Joe or Joe and Jim wanted to rob a bank.

Jim remained in the car to watch while Joe broke into the bank.

Did Jim break into the bank?

No. Jim didn’t break into the bank. He remained in the car.

What did Joe do? Did he remain in front of the bank?

No. No. He didn’t remain in front of the bank. Joe broke into the bank.

Who remained in the car? Jim or Joe?

Jim. Jim remained in the car. Joe broke into the bank.

Did Jim break the bank?

No. No. He broke into the bank which means to get inside without permission.

Jim told Joe to take all the Benjamins, but Joe replied that there was no one named Benjamin there.

Did Jim tell Joe to talk to Benjamin?

No. No. He didn’t want Joe to talk to Benjamin. Jim told Joe to take all the Benjamins, all the hundred-dollar bills.

Was there a Benjamin in the bank?

No. No. There was no one named Benjamin in the bank. Joe was alone.

Did Jim tell Joe to take all the Benjamins?

Yes. Jim told Joe to take all the Benjamins.

All the Benjamins or only some of them?

Not only some of them. Jim told Joe to take all the Benjamins.

Who replied that there was no one name Benjamin there?

Joe. He replied that there was no one name Benjamin there.

Jim told his friend that he was referring to bills.

Was Jim referring to people?

No. No. Jim wasn’t referring to people. He was talking about hundred dollar bills.

Who told his friend that he was talking about bills?

Jim. Jim told his friend who was inside the bank that he was talking about bills.

Who was Jim referring to?

Nobody. He was not referring to anyone, but a thing, bills.

What was Jim referring to?

Bills, money. He was referring to hundred-dollar bills.

Joe, annoyed, answered that there was no one in the bank named Bill either.

Was Joe annoyed or pleased with his friend?

He was annoyed with his friend.

Was Jim referring to Bill Clinton?

No. No. Jim wasn’t referring to Bill Clinton, not even Hillary Clinton! He was talking about hundred-dollar bills.

Did Joe answer there were people in the bank?

No. He didn’t say that. He said no one was there -no one named Bill.

So they spent several minutes arguing until the police came and got them arrested.

Did they spend several minutes arguing about the joy of living without money?

No. No. They were burglars. They didn’t argue about that. It was all a misunderstanding.

Who came while they were arguing?

The police. The cops. They were arguing when the police arrived.

Were they arrested or were they set free by the cops?

They were arrested. They weren’t set free. Jim and Joe couldn’t get away with robbery.

Poor Jim and Joe! Because of a misunderstanding - Joe didn’t realise Jim was referring to money, not people. So they both got arrested. Maybe Joe should have listened to this podcast before trying to rob a bank. :) Let’s continue with the next and last section of this episode.

What to do if you get bored listening repeatedly?

All right! That’s a good question. You know that the key to improving your fluency is listening a lot. You may get bored, especially if you repeat the same audio a lot. As you also know, repetition is important.

I suggest several things you can do:

• Try to guess what the audio will say next. It’s very difficult at first, but with several repetitions, you can guess.

• Concentrate on the individual pronunciation of each word, especially the words that are more difficult for you.

• Focus on intonation. That is the rhythm and the “music” of the phrase.

Saying “How are you?” is not the same as saying “How are you?

-If you are listening to questions and answers, try to answer faster.

Also, you can try to give a longer answer. Besides, you can practice intonation or pronunciation, imitating me.

When you listen to the audio, try to say the same thing right when you hear it.

Sometimes it’s hard, but it’s fun. This is called shadowing. I explained it in a previous episode.

Try to move around, do things like walk, run, tidy up, or wash your clothes, dishes, etc. This can help you change your mood.

Listen with a friend. You can comment on what you hear, and it’s also more fun.

Well, so much for tips on not being bored with listening. It’s all in our head!

You can use this podcast and my English courses to improve your listening comprehension and your speaking.

go to: Method.SpeakEnglishPodcast.com

and get my free video course along with some samples of my Speak English Now courses.

All right, this episode ends right here.

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See you soon!

Bye! Bye!