Comments on: Moolah.

By: MarkB

MarkB — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 19:47:40 +0000

Moolah – see: the Fabulous.

By: Virginia

Virginia — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 23:11:23 +0000

Doesn’t all these diverse origins show how we are all connected, 6 degrees of separation? Here’s another one, JEHOVAH-GMOLAH……..Jeremiah 51:6
meaning “The God of Recompense.” God revealed Himself to the Israelites through His name showing His characteristics and fulfilling their needs. That which has been stolen from His people has been returned to them, God paid them back double for the suffering they went through. Even though His children were not perfect, God keeps calling them back, reconciling AND promising to give to reward them for returning to Him. Blessings!

By: Aprotim

Aprotim — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:14:08 +0000

How about this – like many words (pyjama, dinghy, jute, loot, pundit, etc.), what if this comes from India? In Hindi, ????? (pronounced “mulya”) and in Bengali, ????? (pronounced “mulla/mullo”) both mean “price”. Since this is just the kind of salient word members of the Raj would distort/use with the locals, seems like a likely origin, and given that Kolkata (in Bengal, and noted victim of similar anglophone distortion into “Calcutta”) was the British capital of India until 1911, this is far less far-fetched than Fijian or even South Indian languages. This isn’t some obscure word, either – indeed, Google translate’s default translation of “price” for both language is one of these “moolah” sound-alikes.

By: Lamont E. Lewis

Lamont E. Lewis — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:34:45 +0000

While we’re casting our lines for an origin, why not just look for the holy grail or Noah’s Ark? I think they have something in common: None exists. You’re going from India to Fiji on this thing, for cryin’ out loud! It’s chaff in the wind, and never to be gathered. I’ll bet any amount of moolah you wish to come up with. (So I have a dangling preposition. So what?)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:41:45 +0000

buckaroo is definitely from spanish vaquero. cowboys have loads of spanish words in their vocabulary.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:04:58 +0000

One finds the same meaning but with a different orthography in Damon Runyon where potatoes are often referred to as moolouw. Yet, nothing on Google.

By: Yael

Yael — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 19:33:16 +0000

This feels like the sort of thing that would have been researched by now, so I feel a bit wary of pointing out what may very well be a dud, but in Arabic the word “mal” (pronounced with a long A) means “money, property”; and while “mal” itself seems a bit far from “moolah”, the root of that word is M-W-L, and that W does appear in related forms, such as the plural “amwal”, or the verb “mawwala” (to finance), or the participle “mumawwal” (rich). And going from “amwal” (or similar forms) to “moolah” does not feel all that far-fetched to me. Then again, many false etymologies don’t…

By: alexander macrae

alexander macrae — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:52:18 +0000

Romany for money is Wonga – a not dissimilar word. The origins of the Romany language have been traced to South India.

The Spanish also sounds right – but why just ‘mula’ – why not ‘mulas’, and why does it not linger on in that usage somewhere, or appear in stories from the past?

By: Andre Harris

Andre Harris — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:37:58 +0000

the very spelling of Moolah tends to suggest that it came from somewhere like India, so I think that considering what Gruff and PG 13 said it probably comes from One of the languages of Old India and was brought back by people of the British Raj. It suggests like it is related to some indo-european term.

By: John

John — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 20:10:14 +0000

Some slang words don’t even have an origin.

By: Villainesse

Villainesse — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:32:57 +0000

Since Roman(/Spanish), Hindi, and Sanskrit(Buddhist?) are deeply related languages, it is possible the above options have the same ancient root.

But, it is extremely easy to imagine gamblers using the “bajate de la mula” demand and just shortening it right into our modern slang.

By: PG13

PG13 — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:27:47 +0000

‘Mol’ meaning value is used in Hindi and Urdu in India almost exclusively. It may have come from ‘Mula’ from Pali and Sanskrit as gruff (above) suggested.

Also in some South Indian languages ‘mulla’ means money or valuables, and is use such in many expressions.

I’ve always thought it came from Hindi or Urdu, but seems like the origin is much older to Pali and Sanskrit.

It may have made it to the European languages during the Colonial times.