pay on the nail
idiom

- to immediately pay for something with cash

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WORD ORIGIN

Many etymology reference books suggest that the expression "pay on the nail" can be traced to four brass tables, called "nails," that are located outside the Corn Exchange in Bristol England. They are probably modelled after mobile tables which were taken to trade fairs and markets.

The brass nails, with their flat tops and raised edges that prevent coins from tumbling onto the pavement, were made as convenient tables for merchants to carry out their business. The four nails were made at different times, and this is reflected in their varying designs. As the story goes, merchants used to pay their debts by putting their money on one of the nails. Thus paying on the nail (also referred to cash on the nail) eventually came to mean promptly paying off a debt.

This story has been disputed meanwhile. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable suggests that so-called nails may have actually existed in medieval times by merchants who used them to conduct business (payment was made into the shallow top of the vessel). They may have been called nails only because their shape resembled one.

In addition, the expression was recorded as far back as 1596, long before the Bristol "nails" were erected.


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PRACTICE OWAD TODAY

Say something like:

"When I told the car salesman that I was prepared to pay on the nail, he offered me a discount."