where there is muck there is brass
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Money can be made from dirty or unpleasant work
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Tiền có thể được làm từ công việc bẩn hoặc không愉快
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: muck refers to dirt or filth, brass refers to money
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “where there is muck there is brass” mean?
Money can be made from dirty or unpleasant work Literally: muck refers to dirt or filth, brass refers to money
Is “where there is muck there is brass” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.