лавэ (lave)

What it means

1. 1.

   Money, especially money in hand. Flashier than бабки and strongly associated with rap lyrics, street trade and anyone performing a certain kind of swagger.

2. 2.

   Indeclinable, which marks it immediately as a loanword and keeps it slightly exotic-sounding even now.

Examples with translations

• Лавэ есть — пойдём в нормальное место.

  We've got cash — let's go somewhere decent.

• Он про лавэ только и думает.

  Money's the only thing on his mind.

Where it comes from

From Romani love 'money', entering Russian through the same trader-and-underworld channel that supplied лох. Genuinely a Romani loan, unlike most words claimed as such.

Other forms

Romanised as:

lave

Spellings and variants:

лаве