Chump Change

[Alpo]

You ever think about that term? I wonder if rich people think about that?

 

Let's suppose I have 50 million dollars. I came up with this figure because that's how much a guy has in the book I'm reading. And he tells his girlfriend that having that much money will make people think differently. He said that he will not loan her Cousin Itt $100,000 to open a hair salon.

 

$100,000. I have 50 million. So if we divide both of those by a thousand, I have 50,000 and Cousin Itt only wants 100. Then we divided both by 100. Now I have $500 and Cousin Itt only wants a dollar.

 

If you had $500, and your buddy Joe wished to borrow a buck, and knowing Joe like you do you're fully aware that he's not going to repay you, you'll probably give him the dollar anyhow. I mean hell - that's just chump change.

 

That's the same percentage as the $100,000 that Cousin Itt wants to borrow. Chump change, right?

 

"Chump change" my ass! It's $100,000!!

[Subdeacon Joe]

"Chump change" has no absolute value,  as you so ably point out. Heck,  the $500 in your last example I only 1/200 of the $100,000 the person needs to borrow for his salon.  If you have $100,000 sitting around that $500 might be "chump change." So, for someone with $50,000,000 sitting around, that $100,000 just might be a piddling amount.   

 

What is interesting is how you jumped from loaning the money,  with the expectation of it being paid back  to giving money and not expecting it to be repaid.

 

A quick search for the origin of the phrase was interesting.  It's not all that old,  dating to only the 1960s.   And it's meaning seems to have shifted.  Two sources said that it was a small amount that a "chump" would be satisfied with, and the implication that it was under the value of goods or services.

[watab kid]

i would have thought it dated to the 20s or maybe 30s , but i never gave it much thought as i was generally speaking a chump that never had change - i respected what i earned and saved and spent as wisely as possible - life is too short 

[Rye Miles #13621]

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

9 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

 

 

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/05/where-did-the-expression-chump-change-come-from/

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

suppose i just won the magabuks for a billion. that'd be $500M  lump sum,and $300M atfter taxes. Now, I have cousins all over this region, I dont bother them, they dont bother me, but I bet they'd come out of the woodwork. I dont think I'd give any of them a sawbuck. Three schools I'd give something significant to.  SaSS is not a 401c3 so i wouldn't give them anything.  A whole passle of charties would ask for handouts. I cant think of one I'd give to.

[Cypress Sun]

3 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

suppose i just won the magabuks for a billion. that'd be $500M  lump sum,and $300M atfter taxes. Now, I have cousins all over this region, I dont bother them, they dont bother me, but I bet they'd come out of the woodwork. I dont think I'd give any of them a sawbuck. Three schools I'd give something significant to.  SaSS is not a 401c3 so i wouldn't give them anything.  A whole passle of charties would ask for handouts. I cant think of one I'd give to.

 

One thousand dollars doesn't mean much to someone that has a million....but a dollar means a lot to someone that only has one hundred dollars.

 

Far as charities, Hospice and local, no kill, animal shelters come to mind.

[Subdeacon Joe]

9 hours ago, watab kid said:

i would have thought it dated to the 20s or maybe 30s , but i never gave it much thought as i was generally speaking a chump that never had change - i respected what i earned and saved and spent as wisely as possible - life is too short 

 

That's what my wife and I thought. I even considered as early as the 1880s since lots of colorful phrases came from the late 1800s.  

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

17 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

suppose i just won the magabuks for a billion. that'd be $500M  lump sum,and $300M atfter taxes. Now, I have cousins all over this region, I dont bother them, they dont bother me, but I bet they'd come out of the woodwork.

I guarantee that if that happened to me, my ex-sister would be calling even though we haven't spoken since 2008. And she would be making out like I OWED it to her to give her a piece of it. Even if I planned to go back to Ohio for anything, (I don't, but this was a thought before that decision was made), I would have bought our childhood home, which was Quik Claimed to her, free and clear, and she LOST it to the bank, JUST so that she knew I had it and she couldn't live there.

8 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

Far as charities, Hospice and local, no kill, animal shelters come to mind.

Same here. I'd probably give to the local Animal Control too. Just to help.

[watab kid]

12 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

That's what my wife and I thought. I even considered as early as the 1880s since lots of colorful phrases came from the late 1800s.  

i could see that , i understood there were a lot of colorful phrases that came from that era as well , my grandparents were of that era , but being staunch - tea toeing methodists they didnt use them , a couple elder grand uncles and aunts were not that shy , 

 

im vaguely recalling frank snatra using the term in an older movie but i was thinking 40s era maybe 50s 

[Seldom Seen #16162]

Since I don't personally know the girlfriend's cousin the $100,000 what you are actually describing is making a business loan to a stranger. A loan is made with the expectation of repayment by a certain time period. So I would require a solid business plan and repayment schedule. Otherwise what you described as "chump change" is merely a gift without a written agreement on how it will be used.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, Seldom Seen #16162 said:

Since I don't personally know the girlfriend's cousin the $100,000 what you are actually describing is making a business loan to a stranger. A loan is made with the expectation of repayment by a certain time period. So I would require a solid business plan and repayment schedule. Otherwise what you described as "chump change" is merely a gift without a written agreement on how it will be used.

In the context of the original question, I think that it's a matter of would that amount of money be worth worrying about, or is it such a small amount, (comparatively), that it's not.

And in that context, it's not that much money. However, if I DID have $50 million, I doubt that I would have accrued that by giving any of it away.