Talk:pony up

A ₤25 bet at a horse race in England was referred to by the bookies as a "pony." To "pony up" was to put a £25 bet down on a horse race. "Come on, pony up," was short for "put your ₤25 bet down now," because the race was about to begin. The latin verb "ponere" means "to put" and is the root of the spanish verb "poner." The latin "legem ponere" means to pay in cash, to put down, or put up, money. Hence, "to pony up" something is based on the roots of the latin verb "to put." The phrase "to pony up" or a version of a declined form (past tense, "ponied up") is found as far back as the 16th Century, and usually attached to money, though not always. It was specifically cited relating to money in the publication The Atlantic in an 1824 article. The phrase "to pony up" can be a transitive verb phrase whose object can be anything. "It's your turn to pony up the next beer," a phrase frequently heard in English pubs.