money for jam
- idiom
- Archaic
:
dinero fácil
- He described his summer job as money for jam because it required almost no work.
Examples
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Freelance writing jobs she finds online are pure money for jam.
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For students, babysitting was always considered money for jam.
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This job is just money for jam!
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He thinks that selling old clothes is money for jam.
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For many college students, tutoring is a source of money for jam since it requires only a few hours of work each week.
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She often jokes that her side hustle is money for jam, as she makes a decent income with hardly any effort.
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Many people view taking surveys online as money for jam because it can be done quickly and easily.
Synonyms
9
5.3
Money made quickly, often with little work or by dishonest ways
8
3.2
Money someone earns with little work
3
7.9
Money earned quickly, often by dishonest or easy ways
Easy pay you get with little or no work
How Easy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'money that is easily earned' cannot be derived from the literal constituents 'money' + 'for' + 'jam' (which would normally suggest money intended to buy jam or money associated with a jam). This is an idiomatic, regionally marked expression whose meaning is not predictable from the parts and thus would be unfamiliar to a B1 learner even if they know each word.
Etymology
The phrase money for jam may come from the image of people making and selling jars of jam to earn quick money with very little work. So, it now means 'money that is easily earned or obtained with little effort'.