money talks


Wealth has great influence, as in Big contributors to campaigns are generally rewarded with important posts—in politics money talks. The idea behind this idiom was stated by Euripides in the fifth century b.c., and some 2,000 years later Erasmus spoke of “the talking power of money” (Adagia, 1532). The precise current locution, however, only began to be used about 1900.

Words Nearby money talks

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use money talks in a sentence

  • You will forgive me, my dear Mr. Viner, if I appear to be facetious, which I am not—but money talks.

    The White Moll | Frank L. Packard
  • That we are in earnest we have got to assure him someway, and money talks best.

    Gordon Craig | Randall Parrish
  • But still, "money talks," and even against his will Chester was impressed.

    The Chink in the Armour | Marie Belloc Lowndes