51 MONEY - my American friend

M : This episode is about MONEY ! M : First of all : Money is UNCOUNTABLE. C : Exactly- because I have none. I can’t count what I don’t have! M: That’s not what I meant! C: Alright, MONEY is UNCOUNTABLE. We can’t say one money, two moneys…, we can count Dollars, one Dollar, two Dollars…or Euros: one Euro, two Euros… but money is an abstract notion and it’s an uncountable noun. That’s why we say: money IS, not money are. M : Now let’s talk about CASH money, for example, here’s my wallet. C: You have money in your wallet?? M: A bit. C: I have spider webs in mine. Ok, Marta, that’s paper money. BILLS. We call them bills. For example: a 10 dollar bill or a 20 Euro bill. Ok. That’s metal currency instead. We call those small metal pieces COINS. M : Ok, bills and coins. The one dollar bill can be called a BUCK, right? C : yes, that’s why we can say “bucks” whenever we mean dollars. It’s informal but for example.. “Marta, I’m running out of cash, could you lend me 10 bucks please?” M : Sure! 10 bucks for you Cindy, here you are. C : Can you lend me a BENJAMIN ? M : …a Benjamin? C : that’s a nickname for the $100 bill, because Benjamin Franklin is pictured on the bill. M : ok, so if you mention “Benjamins” you are referring to hundred dollar bills. And the answer to your question is: no, I’m not giving you a Benjamin, sorry. C : alright, I was just kidding. Now let’s talk about coins. They have nicknames too. A 1 cent coin is a PENNY. A 5 cent coin is a NICKEL, a 10 cent coin is a DIME and a 25 cent coin is a QUARTER. M : Right. 1 cent Penny, 5 cent Nickel, 10 cent Dime, 25 cent Quarter. C : For example, imagine I’m a poor person approaching you at the station. I would say: “Madam, can you spare a dime please?” M : ….a dime… 10 cents. Yes, sure! C : Madam can you spare a Benjamin please? ☺ M : yes,…hmmm…wait a minute….a Benjamin is a hundred dollar bill… I’m afraid that’s a little too much ! Nice try, though! ☺ C : I tried! Talking about coins, sometimes we toss a coin to make a decision in a neutral way. That’s what happens in sports, for example, the referee tosses a coin at the beginning of a match to see which team is going to start first. M : Ok, let’s toss a coin to decide who is going to talk about idioms regarding money. C : Heads or tails, Marta? That means the face, the head, of the coin or the other side of the coin? Heads or tails? M : hmmm…heads. C : Ok, tails for me. Let’s see. Tails. M : Ok, you won. So go ahead, give us an idiom about money. C : All right. I know 3 idioms about money mentioning body parts. TO COST AN ARM AND A LEG. That means to cost a lot! For example: My new laptop computer cost me an arm & a leg. M : To cost an arm and a leg. Ok. C : Another one is: TO HAVE AN ITCHY PALM. That means to ask for tips. For example: That valet has an itchy palm. His hand is always out, asking for money. M : To have an itchy palm, got it. C : Third one: TO HAVE STICKY FINGERS, to be a thief. For example: The new shop assistant has sticky fingers and many items in the store have disappeared. They’ve stolen many items from the shop. The shop assistant has “sticky fingers”. M : to have sticky fingers… hmmm… C : Marta? … hey… a penny for your thoughts. M : …oh, yes, the Rolling Stones, that’s where I heard Sticky Fingers before. Now I remember. C : yes, you’re right. M : by the way, what did you mean when you told me “A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS” ? C : that’s another idiom. It’s a nice way of asking someone what they are thinking. Penny for your thoughts, what are you thinking about? M : a penny for your thoughts. Nice one. I like it. C : ok, Marta, let’s move on, we have to hurry up. C’mon, TIME IS MONEY. M : yeah, that’s another idiom I’ve heard many times, time is money. C : Time is valuable, so don’t waste it. Time is money. M : Another idiom I’ve heard is MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON TREES. C : yeah, it doesn’t, so be careful, do not spend your money like there’s no tomorrow, because you only have a limited amount of money. Money doesn’t grow on trees. If you’re not careful, you can end up BROKE. You can GO BROKE. M : That means to lose all of your money. To become bankrupt. To go broke. C : Exactly. When you have no money left you are DOWN-AND-OUT. M : that reminds me of a song… “Nobody knows you when you’re down-and-out”. Eric Clapton’s acoustic version is just wonderful. C : it’s sad but true, when you’re down-and-out -when you have no money left- only a few good friends stick around to help you, the other people kind of disappear. On the contrary, if you have a lot of money you have the power and the influence to get things done. That’s what we mean when we say MONEY TALKS. Wealth helps to get one’s own way. M : Money talks. C : Marta, how do you feel about money? M : well, as long as I earn enough money to live I’m ok. C: you mean: TO MAKE A LIVING. We all have to work hard to make a living nowadays, because the cost of living is getting higher and higher. Sometimes it’s hard to MAKE ENDS MEET. M : to MAKE ENDS MEET ? C : yeah, to pay for your monthly expenses, the rent, the telephone bill, pet food and so on. Well, I hope our listeners are not struggling to make ends meet, I hope they have enough money to make a living and make their dreams come true. M : Yeah, everybody thank you for listening to this episode! Hey, don’t forget to visit our website at where you can read the transcript and the money-related expressions we’ve used, like: C : BILLS, COINS, BUCKS, BENJAMINS, PENNY, NICKEL, DIME, QUARTER, HEADS OR TAILS, TO COST AN ARM AND A LEG, TO HAVE AN ITCHY PALM, TO HAVE STICKY FINGERS, A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS, TIME IS MONEY, MONEY DOESN’T GROW ON TREES, TO GO BROKE, TO BE DOWN-AND-OUT, MONEY TALKS, TO MAKE A LIVING, TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. M : Thank you again for your support. Keep listening to our podcast on iTunes or on Podomatic. C : Also stop by our Facebook page and say “hi”! Or

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51 MONEY - my American friend is an episode from my American friend.

This episode is 10:44 long.

This episode was published on Feb 7, 2014.

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