loadsamoney

n

British

(someone flaunting) excessive wealth; vulgar, conspicuous consumption. The eponymous comedy character Loadsa-money, created by Harry Enfield in 1987, was based on observation of a specific social group. This group com-prises bumptious and philistine skilled and semi-skilled working-class young people from southeastern England, who use their comparative wealth - often gained as part of the black economy - to taunt and provoke those worse off than themselves.

► 'Singer Mike Rivers has vowed never again to work for the Hooray Henry set -"I hate those loadsamoney thugs", he de-clared. ' (News of the World, 29 May 1988)

The catchphrase 'loadsamoney!' was seized upon by journalists and by the leader of the Labour opposition, Neil Kin-nock, who in May 1988 accused the Thatcher administration of fostering an un-caring 'loadsamoney mentality'. In journalese 'loadsa-' was a vogue prefix in 1988 and 1989.