In a memo from a potential outsourcing company: “. . . having flexibility could minimize potential risks while also saving <my employer> monies.”
This brings up a question I have had for a while: is there a reason for using “monies” as opposed to “money” in that sentence? IOW, is there a particular place that “monies” should be preferred to “money?”
Thanks,
RR
This is opinion only, but it seems like people use it to sound more sophisticated or not crass enough to talk about plain money.
The examples dictionary.com uses:
"Sums of money, especially of a specified nature. Often used in the plural: state tax moneys; monies set aside for research and development. "
"moneys or monies, Chiefly Law. pecuniary sums. "
seem relatively specialized and not how most people use it. I lump it in with “Please contact myself”, where me somehow seems too common to use.
/gentle rant
Mr. Wyck: Now, as you know, the Rosses had considerable monies.
George Costanza: Oh, I know they have some monies.
Mr. Wyck: They had more than some monies. Many, many monies.
I’m not a native speaker of German, not of English, but the German word for money (“Geld”) can also be used in the plural. I’m under the impression, both for German and English, that the plural is used if you’re talking about resources set aside or allocated for a specific purpose. If you’re talking about money in a more abstract sense, only the singular should be used, but OTOH the singular can be used in all contexts, including the one for which the plural is acceptable. IOW, you’re never wrong with the singular.
But, again, I’m not a native speaker, so my impression might be wrong. Maybe some people prefer “monies” simply because it looks more educated in writing.
Weighing in on purely observed usage, rather than a citeable answer:
Gigi is precisely on target. “Monies” (an exception to the vowel-plus-y rule) is properly used of sums of money derived from or set aside for specific circumstances. In other words, normally money is a “mass noun” – mix together $123,456.78 and $357.92, and you end up with the single sum of $123,814.70, just as mixing 5 1/2 pounds of sugar and 1/4 pound of sugar leaves you with 5 3/4 pounds of sugar. But Gfactor’s personal bank acount, the law firm’s account on which he may draw, and the ten trust funds for which he is the beneficiaries’ trustee, are separate non-comminglable accounts over which he has custody, and he may invest moneys entrusted to his care according to various rules.
There is a growing tendency to use “monies” for “large amounts of money”: “the monies in the corporation’s general fund” for example. While probably defensible descriptively, I consider it pretentious and deplorable, as damaging the clear mass/count distinction made by the proper use of the plural.
Pretentious? Slightly. Deplorable? Chill.
OK, that makes sense to me. Thanks, Polycarp.
RR