wonga
English
editEtymology
editBorrowed 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.
Pronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ˈwɒŋɡə/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -ɒŋɡə
Noun
editwonga (uncountable)
- (slang, chiefly London, New Zealand) Money.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:money
- A whole wodge of wonga.
- 2022 July 12, Stefani Robinson & Paul Simms, “Reunited” (16:24 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows[1], season 4, episode 1, spoken by Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou):
- “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.”
See also
editFurther reading
edit- “wonga”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Anagrams
editCategories:
- English terms borrowed from Angloromani
- English terms derived from Angloromani
- English terms derived from Romani
- English terms derived from Sanskrit
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɒŋɡə
- Rhymes:English/ɒŋɡə/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
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- English slang
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