Buying and Selling, Money

U1a When you are going to a store or several stores to buy things, you say, “I’m going ________.”

U1b Do you use a different expression if you’re buying groceries?

U2 What do you call a piece of clothing not made at home—one that you buy?

U3 A coat, dress, or other garment that is passed on from one person to another (or an older child to a younger one):

U4 A place where you can take something valuable and borrow money on it:

U5 Someone who sells small articles on a street corner:

U6 Someone who sells vegetables or other articles from a wagon or truck, going from house to house:

U7 A man who goes from town to town selling things:

U8a Other ways of saying, “It cost me ten dollars.”

U8b Similar expressions meaning “I paid ten dollars for it.”

U9 If you buy something for much less than it usually costs, you say, “At ten dollars it was a ________!”

U10 If something costs a great deal, or more than you think it’s worth, you might say, “That’s ________.” [Asked in early Questionnaires only]

U11 If you buy something but don’t pay cash for it, you might say, “I ________.”

U12 If you were buying something and you argued with the person selling it till you made him lower the price, you might say, “I ________.”

U13 When buying or exchanging something that you have not seen, you say you’re getting it ________.

U14 When you’re exchanging with somebody when neither one has seen what the other has (children often do this) you’d call that a ________.

U15 When you’re buying something, if the seller puts in a little extra to make you feel that you’re getting a good bargain, you call that ________.

U16 If somebody was caught short of money and went to a friend to get some, he might say, “I need five dollars before Saturday, will you ________ it to me?”

U17 Names or nicknames for a person who doesn’t pay his bills:

U18 If you force somebody to pay money that he owes you, but that he did not want to pay, you might say, “I finally made him ________.”

U19a Words used around here for money in general: “He’s certainly got the ________.”

U19b Talking of paper money: “He always carries a big ________.”

U20 Words used for dollars around here: “It cost a hundred ________.”

U21 Other words for ‘one cent’:

U22 Other words around here for a five-cent piece:

U23 Other words for a 25-cent piece:

U24 Other words for a 50-cent piece:

U25 Other words for seventy-five cents: [Asked in early Questionnaires only]

U26 Names or nicknames around here for a paper dollar:

U27 Names for a silver dollar:

U28a Names for other kinds of paper money—a five-dollar bill:

U28b Names for other kinds of paper money—a ten-dollar bill:

U28c Names for other kinds of paper money—a twenty-dollar bill:

U29 Names or nicknames around here for worthless money:

U30 What do you keep money in when you carry it around with you? (Different shapes, different for men and women, etc.)

U31 What you might say about a person who spends money very freely: “He’s certainly ________.” [Asked in early Questionnaires only]

U32 Words and expressions used about a very generous person: “He’s ________.”

U33 Names or nicknames for a stingy person:

U34 Other words and expressions around here meaning ‘stingy,’ especially when a person saves money in a mean way: [Asked in early Questionnaires only]

U35 Words meaning thrifty but not in a complimentary way: “She’s not a bad housekeeper, but very ________.”

U36a Words and expressions about a person who saves in a mean way or is greedy in money matters: “He’s an awful ________.”

U36b Words and expressions used to describe a person who saves in a mean way or is greedy in money matters: “She certainly is ________.”

U37 Words and expressions about somebody who has plenty of money:

U38a Words referring to a great deal of money: “He’s got ________ (of money).”

U38b Words referring to a great deal of money: “He made a ________ (of money).”

U39 Somebody who has lost all his money: “During the depression he ________.”

U40 Somebody who is temporarily out of money: You might say, “At the moment he’s ________.”

U41a Somebody who has lost everything and is very poor: “He’s ________.”

U41b Somebody who has lost everything and is very poor: “He’s poor as ________.”

U42 When somebody pretends to be poor but you know he’s not, you say he’s ________. [Asked in early Questionnaires only]

U43 What do you call the kind of store where most articles cost (or used to cost) only five or ten cents? [Not asked in early Questionnaires]

DARE Data Summary by Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.