[General] buttons and washer

[foilistray]

I came across the expression "buttons and washers" in http://www.theguardian.com/football...-van-gaal-blame-manchester-united-horror-show but couldn't find it in any dictionary. Is it a slang?

 

[Raymott]

I haven't heard it, but I guess it means that they haven't spent any real money on players - only buttons and washers. I suppose you know that 'washers' in this context means the ring shaped metal objects that you fit onto bolts before the nut.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In the U.S., cheap people supposedly put buttons into the church collection basket instead of coins. In England, they probably use washers, too.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the U.S., cheap people supposedly put buttons into the church collection basket instead of coins. In England, they probably use washers, too.

I think the few people who still go to church in the UK probably put real money in the collection plate but once upon a time, you were probably right.