The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language

Strapped for Cash

Why are people so often strapped for cash?

Being strapped for cash is actually a good thing. If you’re falling down and you need something to hang on to, a strap is good. If you fall overboard, it’s a good thing if somebody throws you a strap. And if you’ve fallen from the ship of solvency and are drowning in a sea of debt, then you very much want somebody to throw you a strap. Of course, it means that you’re currently in debt, but to be strapped for cash is better than to have no cash at all.

Oddly, the same metaphor has been invented twice. These days, when a bank is about to go bankrupt, the government throws them a lifeline. This means that the bank survives, although they are still strapped for cash.

Incidentally, bank comes from an old Italian word for bench, because money-lenders used to sit behind a bench in the marketplace from which they would do their deals. If a money-lender failed to make good on one of his arrangements, his bench would be ceremonially broken, and the old Italian for a broken bench was banca-rotta or bankrupt.