C-Note

The musical-note equivalent of a McDonald's hamburger. Also, a $100 bill. Think "C for Century"...but the derivation is Roman. As in the M = 1,000, the C = 100, the L = 50 etc.

For whatever reason, Hollywood adopted this term for the hundo in the early part of the 20th century in black-and-white movies with very well-dressed gangsters who smoked. They also said, "drop a dime" and "Johnny's up river in the big house, waiting to meet Old Sparky."