the long green (1889-91)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

* long green = 'money' (OED 1896; HDAS 1893, also 1887 for "lengthy green")

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1889 _Washington Post_ 3 Nov. 15/7 It was more of a bluff on our part, but
we found takers right off, and had to put up the long green.
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1890 _Chicago Tribune_ 7 Jul. 5/5 The Democrats will need a good deal of
money for use in Cook County this fall, because the big boodle dumped in
the city just before the election of 1888 by emissaries of the National
Democratic Committee gave the ward-workers their first taste of the "long
green," and no small fives or tens will do now.
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1891 _Boston Globe_ 11 Jan. 10/2 The "long green" is short for greenbacks.
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--Ben Zimmer