wonga en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈwɒŋɡə/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Borrowed from Angloromani [Term?], from Romani angar (“coal”), from Sanskrit अङ्गार (áṅgāra, “charcoal, coal”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hángāras, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óngʷl̥. The English term coal was itself used as a slang term for money in England in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Meanings
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(London, New-Zealand, slang, uncountable) Money.
I don't mean to be difficult, I said to the madame in reception, but I'm paying a lot of wonga, so these women of yours should be able to manage a bit of service, shouldn't they, I said, and then I was given a voucher.
2009, K. O. Dahl, The Fourth Man: A Thriller, Minotaur Books, →ISBN, page 59:“Well, to fix this house, we need money, correct? Does anyone know if we have any money? Anyone?” “Uh...” “Cash.” “Coin.” “Moola.” “Gold.” “Wonga.” “Rubles.” “Milk.” “Lettuce.” “Bread.” “Dough.” “Sweet cream.” “Stripper tips.” “Anyone?” “Colin Robinson was in charge of paying all the bills in the house, and now Colin Robinson is dead.”
2022 July 12, Stefani Robinson & Paul Simms, “Reunited” (16:24 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 4, episode 1, spoken by Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou):A whole wodge of wonga.
Deriveds
Relateds
Synonyms
yenom · flizz · smackeroonies · bread and honey · blunt · paper · scratch · moola · currency · cheese · finances · flow · brass · means · clams · gravy · funding · scrilla · dough · wampum · smackeroos · oof · bones · spondulicks · dinero · swag · bread · funds · lovely jubbly · cake · Bugs Bunny · shrapnel · cream · ackers · feds · mozzarella · simoleons · smackers · mazuma · coin · rhino · fedi · jack · legal tender · gwop · gwolla · lolly · ooftish · tender · wonga · dosh · bees and honey · money · spend · ching · muck · cheddar