cash on the barrelhead

Rur. cash at the time of purchase. Jonson's store doesn't give credit. Everything is cash on the barrelhead. They offered me fifty thousand dollars cash on the line for Aunt Nancy's old house.

money that is paid immediately when something is bought She's asking $6000 for the car - cash on the barrelhead.

Immediate payment, as in They won't extend credit; it's cash on the barrelhead or no sale. The lexicographer Charles Earle Funk surmised that this term originated in the days when upended barrels served as both seats and tables in bars, and customers were required to pay for their drinks immediately, literally putting their money on the top (head) of a barrel.

Immediate payment: You must pay cash on the barrelhead; we don't offer credit.