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Glite Dictionary
funny money

funny money

2 8.9
Fake bills or coins that people do not accept as real money
  • noun
  • /ˈfʌni ˈmʌni/
translation icon : dinero falso
  • Many businesses have suffered losses due to funny money being used in transactions.

That's kind of been the point of crypto is get away from centralized finance, get away from funny money and Fiat.

Examples

  • The cashier refused to accept the funny money because it looked counterfeit.

  • A pile of funny money!

    The Thief Lord (2006)

  • Funny money is all it is.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • They were making funny money.

    Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

  • There's a guy printing some funny money.

    The Undead (1957)

  • They were printing funny money.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Isn't that how counterfeiters make funny money?

    Sunset (1988)

  • He was caught trying to pay with funny money at the store.

Synonyms

slug
vsfunny money
  • Archaic
4 9.9

A fake coin used to trick machines or people

is used for any counterfeit currency or payment not only coins
stumer
vsfunny money
  • Archaic
9.9

A thing that is fake and has no value

is specific to counterfeit currency or payments rather than any fake item

How Genuine

legal tender
  • Formal
4 4.0
funny money
2 8.9

Surface Forms

funny money singular
funny moneys plural

Morphology

funny + money

Given the provided sense of 'funny' as 'raising doubt / suspicious' combined with 'money', the phrase compositionally yields 'money that is suspicious or not genuine', so a learner who knows both words can infer the counterfeit meaning. The expression is not highly idiomatic or metaphorical beyond this literal modification, so its meaning is predictable from its parts.

Etymology

Funny money comes from the simple picture of money that looks or feels funny, like bills that are strange or clearly fake so shops and people refuse them. That's why it means 'fake' or 'not accepted as real money'.