money talks, bullshit walks

proverb

Attempting to accomplish a goal by demonstrating possession of material resources will succeed, while attempting to accomplish the same goal through mere rhetoric will fail.

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Meanings

proverb

alternative money talks and bullshit walks

  1. slangvulgarAttempting to accomplish a goal by demonstrating possession of material resources will succeed, while attempting to accomplish the same goal through mere rhetoric will fail.

    As my former congressman put it so inelegantly: "Money talks; bullshit walks."

    1984, Jack DeSario, Stuart Langton, Symposium on Citizen Participation and Public Policy, page 321
    2 more examples

    “You taught me a great expression a few years ago, Joey—don’t forget it yourself.” “What expression?” I asked. “Money talks—bullshit walks. Joey, the further away from the Chairman I get, the better I like it.”

    1968, Keefe Brasselle, The Cannibals: A Novel about Television's Savage Chieftains, page p. 68

    First rule of the cold approach: money talks, bullshit walks. So Cal would tip the guy twenty dollars on a hundred-dollar tab.

    2001, Paul William Roberts, Norman Snider, Smokescreen: One Man Against the Underworld, page 252

Origin

First appeared c. 1968 in the US; a rhyming elaboration of money talks.

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Cite this entry
APA

money talks, bullshit walks. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/money%20talks%2C%20bullshit%20walks

MLA

“money talks, bullshit walks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/money%20talks%2C%20bullshit%20walks. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “money talks, bullshit walks,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/money%20talks%2C%20bullshit%20walks.

Source: money talks, bullshit walks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.