# The word 'scratch'.



## Beezer (Sep 19, 2022)

I was paying for a store item and said to the young clerk "I don't have any scratch...I'll have to pay with my debit card." She said, "What does scratch mean??"

My Dad always used the word 'scratch' to describe money. I guess it's quite an old saying. I thought about the origin and I figure it arose from rubbing your index finger against your thumb...making a scratching motion....indicating money.

Have any of you ever heard of that term for currency before...scratch?


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## officerripley (Sep 20, 2022)

Beezer said:


> I was paying for a store item and said to the young clerk "I don't have any scratch...I'll have to pay with my debit card." She said, "What does scratch mean??"
> 
> My Dad always used the word 'scratch' to describe money. I guess it's quite an old saying. I thought about the origin and I figure it arose from rubbing your index finger against your thumb...making a scratching motion....indicating money.
> 
> Have any of you ever heard of that term for currency before...scratch?


Yep.


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## jujube (Sep 20, 2022)

There's also the use of "scratch" to mean "from the beginning", as in "I made this cake from scratch. I didn't use a cake mix."  My grandfather would also say, " We had to get up at the scratch of dawn to get all the work done."

And, yes, I've heard it used to refer to cash.


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## Pepper (Sep 20, 2022)

My arm is itchy, I'm going to scratch it.  Yes, I have always known scratch is aka money.


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## Lewkat (Sep 20, 2022)

Wow, haven't heard that referred to as money since I was a kid in the 40's.


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## JaniceM (Sep 20, 2022)

Yes, I've heard that expression before.


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## Kika (Sep 20, 2022)

I have heard scratch refer to money, not often and not recently.
It seems to have a lot of different meanings. 
 Urbandictionary.com


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## Jace (Sep 20, 2022)

Yes, and some wouldn't know what _moola...is either (same)_


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## hollydolly (Sep 20, 2022)

Beezer said:


> I was paying for a store item and said to the young clerk "I don't have any scratch...I'll have to pay with my debit card." She said, "What does scratch mean??"
> 
> My Dad always used the word 'scratch' to describe money. I guess it's quite an old saying. I thought about the origin and I figure it arose from rubbing your index finger against your thumb...making a scratching motion....indicating money.
> 
> Have any of you ever heard of that term for currency before...scratch?


No never heard that term for money.. however if you'd said that to me in the same context I would have instantly realised you were talking about cash..

When I was a kid all the adults called  loose change .. Smash  or shrapnel


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## jimintoronto (Sep 20, 2022)

In oval track racing, starting at the back of the pack is said to be "starting in scratch position". In some cases the driver decides to start at the back  because they are having trouble with their car for some mechanical reason. OR they spun out on a corner and caused an accident, so they were " sent to the back " as punishment, by the flag man. In some cases, if a car is not able to get onto the track because of a mechanical issue, they are said to have been "scratched from the race ".   JImB.


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## Pinky (Sep 20, 2022)

I've only ever heard the word used in the sentence, "start from scratch".


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## Alligatorob (Sep 20, 2022)

I have heard it on occasion, maybe even used it once or twice.  Googled it and found:

_Scratch
This word has been used to mean money since the beginning of the 20th century, but we don’t seem to know why. Some believe it’s a reference to the phrase “starting from scratch” to imply that everything starts with money._

The article: _100 Slang Words for Money and How They Were Coined_ https://www.wix.com/wordsmatter/blog/2020/09/slang-for-money/ has a lot of interesting words we use for money.  Most I have heard, but not all.


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## Jules (Sep 20, 2022)

I recall the term in reference to money.  I don’t think it’s related but if you get an itchy palm (left?) that you need to scratch, you’re going to come into some money.


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## Lawrence (Sep 20, 2022)

I have heard asking for scratch referring to money but in relation to a small amount of money that you do not have to pay back. Like asking for American pennies or English farthings which are worth only about one fourth of an American cent.


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## Kika (Sep 20, 2022)

jimintoronto said:


> "scratched from the race "


The same term applies in horse racing.  My father was big fan.


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## Capt Lightning (Sep 20, 2022)

Never heard of 'scratch'  referring to money.  We usually say cash  or (loose) change.  
I have heart the term 'shrapnel' used for small coins, and we usually us the German term 'kleingeld' (small money).


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## jujube (Sep 20, 2022)

jimintoronto said:


> In oval track racing, starting at the back of the pack is said to be "starting in scratch position". In some cases the driver decides to start at the back  because they are having trouble with their car for some mechanical reason. OR they spun out on a corner and caused an accident, so they were " sent to the back " as punishment, by the flag man. In some cases, if a car is not able to get onto the track because of a mechanical issue, they are said to have been "scratched from the race ".   JImB.


Anyone remember Spike Jones' "Beetlebomb" routine?  He's narrating a horse race between such horses as Beetlebomb, Girdle ("And it's Girdle in the stretch!), and Harrass ("they're going to scratch Harrass) (Best said out loud....)


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## Ruthanne (Sep 22, 2022)

I recall that word and the meaning but hadn't heard it in a long time.


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## horseless carriage (Sep 22, 2022)

Jace said:


> Yes, and some wouldn't know what _moola...is either (same)_


Or wonga. A British slang term for money of Romani origin. The Romani word “wongar” means coal, and “coal” itself was apparently slang for money in 18th and 19th century Britain. This was probably to do with the fact that both were essential commodities for life.


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## Capt Lightning (Dec 23, 2022)

In sporting terms, I believe that rather than being at the back of the pack, being up to scratch meant to be at the starting position (a line scratched in the ground?)


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## caroln (Dec 23, 2022)

I'm familiar with the term scratch used for money.  

When I was a kid, though, I was confused when a store clerk said, "that will be two bits".  (Blank stare)  He looked at me like I was stupid and said, "25 cents".


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## Lavinia (Dec 28, 2022)

I've never heard of it in reference to money, but then, I'm English. We might say lolly or dosh, but I don't know if that is just in the North of England.


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