cash on the barrelhead


cash on the barrelhead

Payment at the time of service or purchase (as opposed to payment via credit). Well, I guess I'm not replacing my couch right now because the furniture store requires cash on the barrelhead. I'll have to come back after my next paycheck.See also: barrelhead, cash, on

cash on the barrelhead

 and cash on the lineRur. cash at the time of purchase. Jonson's store doesn't give credit. Everything is cash on the barrelhead. They offered me fifty thousand dollars cash on the line for Aunt Nancy's old house.See also: barrelhead, cash, on

cash on the barrelhead

Immediate payment, as in They won't extend credit; it's cash on the barrelhead or no sale. The lexicographer Charles Earle Funk surmised that this term originated in the days when upended barrels served as both seats and tables in bars, and customers were required to pay for their drinks immediately, literally putting their money on the top (head) of a barrel. See also: barrelhead, cash, on

ˌcash on the ˈbarrelhead

(American English) if you pay for something cash on the barrelhead, you pay in full at the time when you buy it: If I give you cash on the barrelhead, can I get a discount?See also: barrelhead, cash, on

cash on the barrelhead

Immediate payment: You must pay cash on the barrelhead; we don't offer credit.See also: barrelhead, cash, on

cash on the barrelhead

Money paid immediately for a purchase, as in “I’ll give you $50 for that bike, cash on the barrelhead.” Why hard cash should be equivalent to putting money on the flat head of a barrel is unclear. In nineteenth-century America barrel was slang for money, especially for a slush fund provided for a political candidate, and a barrel of money signified a huge fortune. However, these usages are only loosely related to the cliché, which itself may be dying out.See also: barrelhead, cash, on