One large = $1000

Posted by ESC on August 15, 2001

In Reply to: Patty posted by Money talk: He owes me five large.... on August 14, 2001

: I've been hearing it in movies, especially ones about hustlers and gangsters in the eastern U.S. cities. Somebody will say something like "I've got to pay him a visit. He owes me five large." Now, what do they mean? $500? $5000? Please explain. - Patty

From "The Slang of Sin" by Tom Dalzell (Merriam-Webster Inc., Springfield, Mass., 1998):
$1 is a buck, (the only one I've heard). Others listed are: ace, berry, bill, boffo or buzzard.
$5 is a fin (from the Yiddish "finif" for five and/or the German "funf"), fiver, five-spot or nickel.
$20 is a double saw or double sawbuck. Or a twenty-spot.
$50 is half a C, half a century, half a yard or half yard.
$100 is a C note or century note.
$500 is five centuries, five Cs, five yards, or half a grand.
$1000 is the cool "large" (as in, ten large for $10,000), grand, G or G note, the very curt K (probably for "kilo") or ten century note or ten yards.