# "Do you have McDonald's money?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553 "2020-05-10T22:10:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/101 "2020-05-16T15:28:18Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > I heard it but most of my friends and my step-family were black. So not sure if my parents said it or just other parents. > > Also, a lot of people in this thread are really getting stuck on the literalness of this “McDonald’s Money” thing, though I am not sure how to articulate what I mean. It’s not literally like a gift certificate or money that only can be spent at McDonald’s. It’s more in reference to adequate excess cash to obtain that thing, and I am 100% sure I have heard it with other things “Blank Money” and I am a middle-aged white guy. Of course there is “F U Money,” and I would hope most posters would understand what that means without taking it literally. Hell, I wish I had “5 Guys Money” but I certainly don’t because I pretty much have to budget to eat groceries. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I have never heard the base formulation at all, not just the McDonald’s version. And frankly it strikes me as an assholish way to say “no” to a kid. I can’t imagine my mother ever talking to me like that. Assholish? Snarky, maybe, sarcastic, sure. But assholish? Depends on context. I suppose I can’t imagine my mother talking to me like that either. But my dad? Hell yeah. Not those exact words, but the main thrust that amounts to, “We can have that just as soon as you’re ready to pay for it because money doesn’t grow on trees, and even if it did I could find better uses for it, lol.” I’ve already expressed my position on “mcdondald’s money” as an expression (I’m pretty much aligned with **actualliberalnotoneofthose** ). It seems to me that the real cultural divide is not “who’s ever heard of McDonald’s money?” (which is an expression about “\_\_\_\_ money,” not unique to McDonald’s), but rather “who had a sarcastic/snarky parent who would come up with sarcastic, perhaps even borderline mean, ways to say no?” Like the mother in _American Beauty_: “Mom, do we always have to listen to this elevator music?” “No, we don’t. As soon as you’ve prepared a nutritious yet savory meal that I’m about to eat, you can listen to whatever you like.” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553/103 "2020-09-28T20:06:33Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t remember where I first heard “Mickey D’s” but I think I understood it in context. First heard it freshman year of college at Ohio State in 79. All the people from Cleveland called it that, not the people from the “real parts” of Ohio. 🙂 Do they still call Cleveland the mistake on the Lake? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-mcdonalds-money/853553.md?page=5)