Even so, six months after Wonga (Brit-slang for money) was launched in July 2008, it was already profitable and is now the biggest short-term lender in Britain.

FORBES: Names You Need To Know: Wonga

The economists' slang for this kind of policy is the creation of "helicopter" money, because it is seen as the equivalent of dropping money on all of us from out of a helicopter ( see this column by Simon Jenkins for more on this).

BBC: Turner: Time for helicopter money?

If you run out of money, you can walk across the street to an ATM that offers Cockney rhyming slang as an alternative to English.

CNN: Why gritty East End is London's gold standard