***

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is


Meaning of Idiom ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’
To put your money where your mouth is means to do something rather than just talk about it; to take actions that support your opinion, statements or position; to use your own money in support of something you say your support. 1,2
Compare put up or shut up.


Want to see more videos from Idioms.Online? Subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Usage
This idiom can refer to literally staking your own money in support of something but it is often used more figuratively to refer to any type of action.

Examples Of Use
“You say your support the bill. Put your money where your mouth is,” said the senator.

“We’ve complained about low wages for years and nothing has improved. It’s time to put our money where our mouth is and call a strike.”

“If you like the idea so much why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and cut a check?” said the investor.

“You say your boss is a scumbag but you keep working for him. Put your money where your mouth is and quit.”

Origin
Used since at least the 1910s as suggested by several instances in a Google book search, this idiom was common by the late 1930’s or 1940s.

An example from 1913 (Source):



Similar expressions existed since the late 1800s such as ‘put your money where your heart is’ or ‘put your money where your interests are.’ Whether these expression gave rise to the current idiom is unknown. As suggested by the above instance of the expression in the New York Tribune from 1913, the money variant was somewhat contemporaneous with the other variants. See further discussion. The related idiom, put up or shut up, which is earlier, states the same idea.

The allusion here is simple. Contribute cold, hard cash to support the views you state. ‘Where your mouth is’ alludes to the things you are saying.


More Idioms Starting with P

Par For the Course
Peter Out
Perish the Thought
Pick Up
Perfect Storm
More Money Related Idioms

Last of the Big Spenders
Ten-Dollar Word
Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels
In Hock
25+ Slang Terms for Money
Time is Money
Save Something for a Rainy Day
More Mouth Idioms

Watch Your Mouth
Loudmouth, be a
Big Mouth, have a
Give Someone a Mouthful
A Mouthful
More Put Idioms

Put Your Foot Down
Put the Pedal to the Metal
Put in One’s Two Cents Worth
Put Someone Out To Pasture
Put Up Or Shut Up
More Where Idioms

What (why, who, how, where) On Earth
More Idioms
Blow a Hole in
Call It Quits
A Dime a Dozen
From the Horse’s Mouth
Gift Of Gab, the
Like There’s No Tomorrow
Enough Is Enough
Jump Through Hoops