wonga

Borrowed from Angloromani [Term?], from Romani angar (“coal”), from Sanskrit अङ्गार (áṅgāra, “charcoal, coal”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hángāras, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óngʷl̥. The English term coal was itself used as a slang term for money in England in the 18th and 19th century.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɒŋɡə/

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• Rhymes: -ɒŋɡə

wonga (uncountable)

1. (slang, British, chiefly London, New Zealand) Money.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:money

   A whole wodge of wonga.

   • 2009, K. O. Dahl, The Fourth Man: A Thriller, Minotaur Books, →ISBN, page 59:

     I don't mean to be difficult, I said to the madame in reception, but I'm paying a lot of wonga, so these women of yours should be able to manage a bit of service, shouldn't they, I said, and then I was given a voucher.

• wonga pigeon
• wonga-wonga

• “wonga”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

• Gowan, Wagon, gowan, wagon, wango