Meanings
- UKinformalOffering a low payment or salary will not attract skilled workers or employees.First known use mid 20th c.
Synonyms: good work ain't cheap, cheap work ain't good, if you pay bananas, you get monkeys
Synonyms & antonyms
proverbOffering a low payment or salary will not attract skilled workers or employees.
Origin
A reference to peanuts (“especially of a salary: a very small or insufficient amount”) (originally US slang dating to the mid 20th century) and monkey (“a person of minimal intelligence, idiot”), with a humorous allusion to the fact that monkeys are fond of nuts.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish viiden markan suutari tekee kuuden markan vahingon
- viiden markan suutari tekee kuuden markan vahingonoffering a low payment or salary will not attract skilled workers or employees
Greek τον κώλο βάζεις μάγειρα, σκατά θα μαγειρέψει
- τον κώλο βάζεις μάγειρα, σκατά θα μαγειρέψει (ton kólo vázeis mágeira, skatá tha mageirépsei)offering a low payment or salary will not attract skilled workers or employees
Cite this entry
if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/if%20you%20pay%20peanuts%2C%20you%20get%20monkeys
“if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/if%20you%20pay%20peanuts%2C%20you%20get%20monkeys. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/if%20you%20pay%20peanuts%2C%20you%20get%20monkeys.
Source: if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.