money talks

Idioms  

1. 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.

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Example Sentences

As ever, the loyalists will go where the money talks.

From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026

Zac, a “swaggering tormented fabulist,” had invented a back story in a city where money talks and no one speaks about its provenance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

That's just a short pick of the very long list of dilemmas where money talks, and the chancellor’s been urged to listen.

From BBC • Oct. 26, 2024

“At the end of the day, money talks, and you would rather have them as a partner.”

From New York Times • Nov. 14, 2023

He has learned that money talks, so to speak, and he is always ready to give it an audience.

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