Dictionary

Scrooge McDuck en · NOUN

Etymology

Verb sense evoking a recurring gag in which the wealthy eponymous cartoon duck dives into, and swims around in, a giant pile of gold coins. The etymology of the name, from Ebenezer Scrooge (alluding to his wealth) + Mc- (reflecting his Scottish ancestry) + duck (denoting his species).

Meanings

1. (slang) Someone with immense wealth.
   • The NBA owners looked like cartoonish money hoarders, a gaggle of Scrooge McDucks. 2010, FreeDarko (Collective), The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History:
   • I, RONNIE DUCKWORTH, do hereby will nothing because I come from a long line of "Scrooge McDucks". 1960, Blowing Rock High School, The Breezes [1960]:
   • The flour industry’s Scrooge McDucks did not appreciate the potential competition. 2013 October 30, Seattle Weekly Vol. 38, No. 44:
   • Some buyers are flipping units, not living in them; de Portzamparc strongly wants this building used for both hospitality and homes, but demurs on how to ensure it becomes a community of New Yorkers, not a casino for global Scrooge McDucks. 2014, Oculus; Volume 76, Issue 4:
   • It’s true that the Scrooge McDucks wield too much power here, […] 1997, Marty Jezer, Stuttering:
   • […]the gulf between the party that genuinely cared for the people, the Democrats, and the Scrooge McDucks in the GOP. 2016, Scott J. Hammond, Campaigning for President in America, 1788-2016:
2. (slang) A greedy person.
   • Even the Scrooge McDucks of the world will fall for the complimentary minibar. 2010, Kim Atkinson, Hong Kong & Macau 2010:
   • In later years one analyst claimed that these programs turned Americans into “a nation of moneygrubbing Scrooge McDucks.” 2001, Jim Cox, The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows: Seventeen Programs from the 1940s and 1950s:
   • He suggests — pretty convincingly, to my ears — that the right has a perfectly coherent strategy for mitigating the threat of climate change, and it isn't just to ignore it so they can keep hoarding wealth while everyone else suffers, like so many Scrooge McDucks. 2017, Stephen Feinstein, Critical Perspectives on Climate Change:
   • With dollar signs in our eyes, we stared at the pennies like a pack of Scrooge McDucks. 1997, Dan Peavler, Fatherhood - a Journey Through:

Forms

Synonyms

fat cat

wikipedia: Ebenezer Scrooge

Scrooge McDuck en · VERB

Etymology

Verb sense evoking a recurring gag in which the wealthy eponymous cartoon duck dives into, and swims around in, a giant pile of gold coins. The etymology of the name, from Ebenezer Scrooge (alluding to his wealth) + Mc- (reflecting his Scottish ancestry) + duck (denoting his species).

Meanings

1. (qualifier:literal, slang) To dive into money; to swim around in money.
   • We opened them and obscene (to us children) amounts of money fell out. Woo hoo! Money! We Scrooge McDucked, rolling on the living room floor in what was probably a pile of twenty bucks but felt like a fortune to us. 2015, Vicki Lesage, Christmas Confessions & Cocktails: A Humorous Holiday Memoir with Sassy Drink Recipes:
   • If I had a dollar for every time some probably well-meaning but clueless dude took my instrument from my hands to hook it up or went to plug in my amp or pedals for me I'd be Scrooge McDucking it all day long[…] 2011 September 14, Maximum Rocknroll 340:
   • The perception that restaurant owners are out here Scrooge McDucking into vaults full of money—on the whole, that’s not the case. 2019 November 27, Star Tribune, City Pages - 27 November 2019, page 13:
   • A misconception about selling out is that every last government official inside the Beltway is clamoring to Scrooge McDuck into a giant pool of gold coins;[…] 2016, Eliot Nelson, The Beltway Bible: A Totally Serious A-Z Guide to Our No-Good, Corrupt, Incompetent, Terrible, Depressing, and Sometimes Hilarious Government:
2. (figuratively, slang) To revel in ones wealth and success.
   • Willabie snorted. “That old coot? The last time he deigned to talk to his youngest child, he was still Scrooge McDucking his way through the Fort Lauderdale social scene.” 2017, Jesse J. Holland, Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther?, a Novel of the Marvel Universe:
   • From what I can tell, the baby-faced cabal of DigiTour Winter artists, […] are all about ready to Scrooge McDuck through some new school coin, thanks to their adorably populist YouTube accounts and Snapchat followings. 2016 December 21, The Stranger (Volume 26, Issue 17), page 25:

Forms

wikipedia: Ebenezer Scrooge