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

I asked three others to dish on their money talks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

But, as ever in any marketplace, money talks and Arsenal have not closed the door on a move for Isak just yet.

From BBC • May 8, 2025

You know that expression, "money talks, wealth whispers"? Well, these two haven't whispered a day in their lives.

From Salon • Jul. 22, 2023

I don't need to talk to git writ up; my money talks for me.

From Drusilla with a Million by Cooper, Elizabeth