Vig
Origin
Abbreviation of vigorish.
Full definition of vig
Noun
vig
(plural vigs)- (slang) A charge taken on bets, as by a bookie or gambling establishment.
- 2009, Wayne L. Winston, Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics, page 256,The bookmaker's mean profit per dollar bet is called vigorish or “the vig.†In our example, 11 + 11 = $22 is bet, and the bookmaker wins $1 so the vig is 1/22 = 4.5%.
- (slang) Interest from a loan shark's loan.
- 1973, Martin Scorsese, (screenplay), , quoted in 2009, Ellis Cashmore, Martin Scorsese's America, page 118,“You charged a guy from the neighborhood $1800 vig?†he asks incredulously (“vig†is short for vigorish, meaning a rate of interest from a loan from an illegal moneylender).
- 2005, F. P. Lione, The Crossroads, Midtown Blue Book #2, page 100,The guy was probably professional muscle, a leg breaker who collects vig for a loan shark. (Vig is a mob term for interest on loans to a loan shark.)
- A commission, finder's fee, or similar extra charge.