Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Today we are going to look at different ways we talk about money in English. As it is such an important commodity in our society, there are scores of proverbs and idioms that refer to earning money, wasting money, paying and saving. Let's first take a look at different synonyms used to refer to money. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED, the origin of the word "money" itself comes from the Old French moneie which, in turn, comes from "the Latin moneta, which meant mint or money, originally a title of the goddess Juno, in whose temple in Rome money was minted." Nowadays, it is common to refer to money in general as cash, or hard cash, especially when we want to distinguish a sum paid in notes and coins from a payment made with a credit or debit card. But colloquially we use other nouns such as bread or dough - the latter being the mixture of flour, yeast and water used to make bread. Another word we use is dosh which, according to the OED, has been used since the 1950s, although the origin of this word is unknown. Other words you will hear is a quid, which means a pound, and a buck, which is used colloquially to refer to a dollar. In English there are lots of proverbs that refer to money. Here we have made a selection but you will come across many more. One of the best known is Money doesn't grow on trees, which means that money has to be earned and is not easy to obtain without making an effort, in contrast to the natural process of fruit growing on a tree. This saying is often used as a warning against overspending. For example, a parent might use this expression when refusing to give a teenage son or daughter extra pocket money! Another very common proverb, which dates back to the mid 19th century, most probably in the United States, is Money can’t buy happiness, as money can only buy material things. It is, however, often used ironically. For example: Money can't buy happiness but neither can poverty. The purely material value of money is also emphasized in the proverb Shrouds have no pockets, which means that the wealth we accumulate during our lifetime is of no use after death. A shroud is the sheet in which a dead person is wrapped before burial. By contrast, we also say Money talks, meaning money gives power and influence to those who possess it. Even though this might seem to be a modern expression, it has actually been used since the mid 17th century. Another expression that is used frequently, especially in business, is Time is money, which means that time spent uselessly represents a real loss of money. This expression is often attributed to Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, who used it in an essay in 1748. Many proverbs warn against the misuse of money. For example, A fool and his money are soon parted, meaning that someone who lacks good judgement will spend money quickly and recklessly. A fool may earn money, but it takes a wise man to keep it has a similar message. There are also many proverbs that give advice on how we should look after our money. For example, If you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves, means that if you take care not to waste small amounts of money, this is a good way to accumulate wealth. However, another proverb: Penny wise and pound foolish, warns against being careful not to spend small amounts of money but not careful enough when it comes to spending large sums. If we now turn to idioms related to money, we find that many idiomatic expressions refer to financial problems or the lack of money. For example: If you are in the red, it means you have overspent and that you owe money to the bank. To be in the black is the opposite of in the red. So we could say: This month I have had to pay a lot of extra bills and now I am in the red. I won't be in the black until I get paid. Another expression to refer to financial difficulties is to make ends meet. We use this idiom when a person (or family) finds it hard to cover all their basic expenses. For example, we could say: Since Mr. Jones lost his job, he is finding it very difficult to make ends meet as he has two children and has to pay a mortgage. In this kind of situation, Mr. Jones will need to tighten his belt, that is to say, he will have to reduce his expenses. When a person has very little money, we say that he or she is hard up or that they live from hand to mouth and when they have no income we say he or she is broke. On the other contrary, if someone makes a fast buck, it means that they earn money quickly and easily. For example: Tommy made a fast buck last summer helping out in his uncle's golf club. Likewise, to make a killing means to make a lot of money. For example: Before the crisis, many investors made a killing on the property market. During an economic crisis, it is also very common for companies and other organisations to feel the pinch, which means to suffer the consequences of a reduction in spending. We could say: Many hotels felt the pinch during the economic recession as the number of visitors dropped dramatically. Another idiom that is used in a similar situation is on a shoestring. We could say, for example: Due to the reduction in government spending, many NGOs are being run on a shoestring, that is to say, on a very low budget. If you pay through the nose this means that you pay a lot of money for what you consider is very little in return. For example: When Tom went to the famous chef's new restaurant, he had to pay through the nose just to book a table. Another expression which we use when something is very expensive is to cost an arm and a leg. I could say: The tickets for the Lady Gaga concert cost me an arm and a leg. On the contrary, the expression for peanuts means for very little money. For example, we might say: Nowadays many companies expect their employees to work for peanuts. In a restaurant, another idiom you might use or hear is to foot the bill which simply means to pay. For example: As John was the last to get up from the table, his colleagues left him to foot the bill. If John's colleagues had been a little more generous, they would have gone Dutch, that is to say, they would have shared the cost of the meal. When people waste money, we use the expression to pour money down the drain. We could say: He poured most of his money down the drain because of his addiction to online poker. On the contrary, when a person spends money very carefully, we say to pinch pennies. This expression has a positive connotation. For example, we could say: Even though my parents did not earn much money, they were good at pinching pennies so that we could always have a summer holiday. If, on the other hand, we want to refer to a mean person who does not like spending money, we say that they are tight-fisted. For example: My grandfather was very tight-fisted and never bought us presents at Christmas. To finish for today remember the saying: "If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy." We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!