Dollars to doughnuts

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Meaning

A wager or assertion made with overwhelming confidence. Somewhat old-fashioned but still transparent Regional use: United States and Canada.

Origin

An American betting formula contrasting valuable dollars with then-inexpensive doughnuts. A singular dollar to a doughnut is recorded in Kansas in March 1871, and the plural form appears in Maine that October. The imbalance in the imagined stakes signals that the speaker considers the outcome nearly certain; alliteration probably helped this version outlast dollars to buttons.

Variants

  • dollars to donuts
  • a dollar to a doughnut
  • bet dollars to doughnuts

Usage Examples

  • Dollars to doughnuts, the missing receipt is under that stack of catalogues.
  • I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the first frost arrives before November.

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