Dosh

Dosh (noun / British cash slang)

(Also heard as: Bit of dosh, Tidy dosh, Load of dosh, Out of dosh)

Definition: Cash, money, or wages. Cold hard notes and coins in your pocket or sitting in your bank account.

Pronunciation: /dɒʃ/

Where It Comes From: Popped up in London and British working-class talk during the mid-20th century, around the 1950s. Some reckon it links to the old army phrase “doss” (a cheap bed for the night, costing a few coins), while others tie it to rhyming slang or Romani words for trade. By the 1980s, market stallholders, builders, and TV shows like Harry Enfield cemented it across the whole country.

How People Actually Use It: Tossed into casual chat whenever money comes up. It’s what you say when a job pays decently, when you’re checking if someone has the cash to chip in for a takeaway, or when complaining about how much a plumber charged for ten minutes of work.

Examples in the Wild:

• “He made a tidy bit of dosh doing up that old motor and selling it on.”

  Translation: He made a good amount of profit selling that renovated car.

• “I’d love a pint, but I’m waiting on some dosh to land in my account tomorrow.”

  Translation: I don’t have enough spare cash for drinks until payday.

• “That new extension must have cost them a serious load of dosh.”

  Translation: That building work must have been very expensive.

Similar Slang: Wedge, Quid, Moolah, Spondoolicks, Readies, Brass, Wonga