simoleon

[prettygoodword]

simoleon (suh-MOH-lee-uhn) - n., (slang) a dollar.


Very specifically American slang, this one, dating from the late 19th century. The origin is uncertain, but the common theory is that it's a fanciful blend of simon, slang for a dollar coin adopted from earlier English slang for a sixpence coin, plus Napoleon, slang for a French twenty-franc coin with the image of Napoleon III -- and certainly that sort of blending is of a kind with other Americanisms of the time.

And that's all the moolah I've got for the week -- back to the regular mix on Monday.

---L.

Comments

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

Ah. I didn't know that The Sims' currency label had an our-world antecedent! Apparently also attested as "samoleons" (1896), which makes me wonder whether -i- is partly Midwestern raising.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Possibly? The first citation I've managed to find an actual reference for, in the 1886s, was to an Iowa newspaper.

---L.