The word 'scratch'.

Beezer

Senior Member
I was paying for a store item and said to the young clerk "I don't have any scratch...I'll have to pay with my debit card." She said, "What does scratch mean??"

My Dad always used the word 'scratch' to describe money. I guess it's quite an old saying. I thought about the origin and I figure it arose from rubbing your index finger against your thumb...making a scratching motion....indicating money.

Have any of you ever heard of that term for currency before...scratch?
 

I was paying for a store item and said to the young clerk "I don't have any scratch...I'll have to pay with my debit card." She said, "What does scratch mean??"

My Dad always used the word 'scratch' to describe money. I guess it's quite an old saying. I thought about the origin and I figure it arose from rubbing your index finger against your thumb...making a scratching motion....indicating money.

Have any of you ever heard of that term for currency before...scratch?
Yep.
 
There's also the use of "scratch" to mean "from the beginning", as in "I made this cake from scratch. I didn't use a cake mix." My grandfather would also say, " We had to get up at the scratch of dawn to get all the work done."

And, yes, I've heard it used to refer to cash.
 

I was paying for a store item and said to the young clerk "I don't have any scratch...I'll have to pay with my debit card." She said, "What does scratch mean??"

My Dad always used the word 'scratch' to describe money. I guess it's quite an old saying. I thought about the origin and I figure it arose from rubbing your index finger against your thumb...making a scratching motion....indicating money.

Have any of you ever heard of that term for currency before...scratch?
No never heard that term for money.. however if you'd said that to me in the same context I would have instantly realised you were talking about cash..

When I was a kid all the adults called loose change .. Smash or shrapnel
 
In oval track racing, starting at the back of the pack is said to be "starting in scratch position". In some cases the driver decides to start at the back because they are having trouble with their car for some mechanical reason. OR they spun out on a corner and caused an accident, so they were " sent to the back " as punishment, by the flag man. In some cases, if a car is not able to get onto the track because of a mechanical issue, they are said to have been "scratched from the race ". JImB.
 
I have heard it on occasion, maybe even used it once or twice. Googled it and found:

Scratch
This word has been used to mean money since the beginning of the 20th century, but we don’t seem to know why. Some believe it’s a reference to the phrase “starting from scratch” to imply that everything starts with money.


The article: 100 Slang Words for Money and How They Were Coined https://www.wix.com/wordsmatter/blog/2020/09/slang-for-money/ has a lot of interesting words we use for money. Most I have heard, but not all.
 
I have heard asking for scratch referring to money but in relation to a small amount of money that you do not have to pay back. Like asking for American pennies or English farthings which are worth only about one fourth of an American cent.
 
In oval track racing, starting at the back of the pack is said to be "starting in scratch position". In some cases the driver decides to start at the back because they are having trouble with their car for some mechanical reason. OR they spun out on a corner and caused an accident, so they were " sent to the back " as punishment, by the flag man. In some cases, if a car is not able to get onto the track because of a mechanical issue, they are said to have been "scratched from the race ". JImB.
Anyone remember Spike Jones' "Beetlebomb" routine? He's narrating a horse race between such horses as Beetlebomb, Girdle ("And it's Girdle in the stretch!), and Harrass ("they're going to scratch Harrass) (Best said out loud....)
 
Yes, and some wouldn't know what moola...is either (same)
Or wonga. A British slang term for money of Romani origin. The Romani word “wongar” means coal, and “coal” itself was apparently slang for money in 18th and 19th century Britain. This was probably to do with the fact that both were essential commodities for life.
 
I'm familiar with the term scratch used for money.

When I was a kid, though, I was confused when a store clerk said, "that will be two bits". (Blank stare) He looked at me like I was stupid and said, "25 cents".
 
I've never heard of it in reference to money, but then, I'm English. We might say lolly or dosh, but I don't know if that is just in the North of England.
 


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