pony up
idiom

- pay a particular amount of money, pay what one owes, make good a debt, settle an account

- to pay (a particular amount of money) for something

- if you pony up a sum of money, you pay the money that is needed for something, often unwillingly

Cambridge Dictionary / Merriam-Webster / Collins Dictionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

While some sources claim that "pony up" comes from horseracing, others state that "pony" refers to £25 (British pounds) from Cockney rhyming slang, where "pony" roughly rhymes with "money".

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FAMOUS PENNY PINCHERS

Some of the last people in the world likely to pony up:

- Daniel Dancer - An 18th century Englishman who was a notorious miser. Despite being a rich landowner, he took only one meal a day, consisting invariably of a little baked meat and a hard-boiled dumpling, a sufficient quantity of which to last the week was prepared every Saturday night. It was his habit to purchase one new shirt every year.

- Hetty Green - known as the "Witch of Wall Street", she was one of the wealthiest women in the United States in the late 19th century but lived frugally and never turned on the heat or used hot water. She was known for wearing a single black dress that she would not replace until it was thoroughly worn out.

- J. Paul Getty - The American oil tycoon who refused to pay a $17 million ransom for his kidnapped grandson, saying "If I pay for one, then I'll have 14 kidnapped grandchildren”.

- Ingvar Kamprad - The founder of IKEA, who despite his $23 billion net worth, was known for driving a second-hand Volvo and always flying economy class.

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SELECTED SYNONYMS

ante up, chip in, come across with, cough up (the dough), dig deep, dole out, foot the bill, fork over, front the cash, hand over, kick in, lay down, loosen the purse strings, make good (on something), open up the wallet (the purse), pay up, peel off, plunk down, PONY UP, put up (the money), settle, shell out, spring for, stump up

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a sentence this coming week:

“I'll PONY UP for the cinema tickets, but you're buying the popcorn and coke, OK?”

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