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Dosh

Posted by R. Berg on March 21, 2002

In Reply to: Dosh posted by ESC on March 21, 2002

: : : : I am interested in the derivation of the word 'dosh ' meaning money.

: : : : Can anyone help?

: : : My 1994 Collin's Dictionary says: 'British and Australian slang for money. 20th century. Origin unknown.'
: : : Hopefully, others can do a bit better! It's not recorded in my copy of the Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

: : I also am totally unable to track down any origins for dosh, but perhaps the following observation will soften the blow. We British have a huge number of slang terms for money or cash - to the extent that it's almost improbable. Wih no more than a moment's thought, I offer you the obvious "readies" and "wad", the more bizarre "wonga" and my personal utterly surreal favourite "spondoolicks" (sp?). There'll be plenty more - and this is before we even get into the slang for amounts of cash - monkeys and ponies, bottles, carpets and ladies to start with. But that's for another time.

: I have never heard the word used in the U.S. I did find it in an American slang reference book, but its origin is unknown. To me it has the sound of "carny talk."

Eric Partridge (A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English) offers a speculation about its origin:
DOSH. Money, esp. cash: Australian juvenile: since ca. 1944. . . . Perhaps a blend of "DOllars" + "caSH."

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