Geld regiert die Welt, money makes the world go ’round! Though I don’t necessarily agree with that statement, money undoubtedly has been an integral part of almost every society for a long time and Germany is no exception. Therefore it’s no surprise that there are many words in colloquial German that replace the official term Geld.
Together with the Deutsch Happen and Deutsch Sprechen communities on Facebook we curated the Top 20 words for money in colloquial German.
Many thanks to all our community members who have contributed to the list!
Top 20 Colloquial and Common German Words for Money
- Kohle
- Knete
- Piepen
- Zaster
- Mäuse
- Kröten
- Kies
- Schotter
- Moneten
- Mücken
- Euronen
- Moos
- Penunsen
- Taler
- Schütte
- Asche
- Pinke (auch: Pinkepinke)
- Lappen (für Geldscheine)
- Bimbes
- Bares
- Heu
- Takken (auch: Tacken)
In this Thesaurus you can find even more common German expressions for the word Geld.
And to give you some context, here are some popular German expressions and sayings around Geld. If you can think of others, feels contact me. I’m happy to add them!
Etwas auf Heller und Pfenning zurückzahlen.
To pay something back by the dollar and cent.
Zeit ist Geld.
Time is money.
Geld stinkt nicht.
Money has no smell.
Geld wie Heu haben.
To have money like hay. = To be very rich.
Der Rubel rollt.
The ruble rolls. = Money is coming in. The cash till keeps ringing.
Nur Bares ist Wahres.
Only cash is real. = Money talks. Cash is king.
Ohne Moos nix los.
Without money nothing happens. No money no action.
Bei Geld hört jede Freundschaft auf.
Money breaks any friendship; Never a borrower or a lender be (Shakespeare, Hamlet 1604 / Mark Twain)
schnöder Mammon
filthy lucre
Jemandem das Geld aus der Tasche ziehen.
To pull out money out of someone’s pocket.