Idioms and other expressions used for talking about money
PART 1
1. Steve is up to his ears in debt. (If you are up to your ears in debt, you owe a lot of money)
2. Kevin is on the dole. (If you are on the dole, you are unemployed and getting money from the government)
3. Jamie has made his pile. (Someone who has made their pile has made a lot of money, usually over a long period of time)
4. Sue can’t make ends meet. (If you cannot make ends meet, you are finding it difficult to pay for important things like your house, food, clothes, etc)
5. Jacqueline is stinking rich. (Someone who is stinking rich is extremely rich)
6. Mark’s boss pays him chickenfeed. (If your boss pays you chickenfeed, he / she pays you very little money. We can also say that your boss pays you peanuts)
7. Tarquin is loaded. (Someone who is loaded is very rich)
8. Laurence is hard up. (Someone who is hard up doesn’t have much Money and finds it difficult to make ends meet
9. Christine is well off. A (If you are well off, you have enough money to live a comfortable life)
10. Brenda is in the red. (If someone is in the red, they have less than £0 in their bank account and owe the bank money as a result. If they have more than £0 in their account, they are in the black)
11. John is strapped for cash. (Someone who is strapped for cash needs money. This is usually a temporary situation: “Can I pay you tomorrow? I’m a bit strapped for cash at the moment”.)
12. Mike is made of money. (Someone who is made of money is very rich)
13. Don is penniless. (If you are penniless, you have no Money at all: this word comes from penny, the smallest unit of British currency)
14. Judy has money to burn. (As this expression suggests, someone who has money to burn has so much Money that they could burn it if they wanted to)
15. Pete is broke. (If you are broke, you have no money. This is usually a temporary situation: “I’m completely broke and I don’t get paid for another week”)
16. Tim has more money than sense. (Someone who has more Money than sense has a lot of money, but often wastes it on things that they don’t really need or want)
17. Alison is rolling in it. A (This expression has a similar meaning to number 14)
18. Bob is skint. (This has a similar meaning to number 15, but is more informal)
19. Andy is down and out. (Someone who is down and out has no money and no home, and is probably living rough on the streets)
20. Jeanette is feeling flush. (If you are feeling flush, you are not rich, but you have more money than usual, perhaps because you have won something: “I’m feeling flush: let me buy you dinner tonight”)
21. Charles is raking it in. If you are raking it in, you are getting a lot of money for doing your job)
22. Annabel is a bit down-at-heel. (Someone who is described as down-at-heel is poor and looks poor: their clothes are probably dirty and in bad condition, their hair is untidy, etc).