Etymology Onomatopoeic, imitative of the sound of a mechanical cash register when an amount is rung up. Popularized by the movie Wayne's World (1992) and by an advertisement in 1992 featuring Seth Green. The spoken term is also, in the US, a trademarked sound of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc.
1
Informal, Slang Score!; wow!; said to celebrate something that has made or will make a large amount of money.
Cha-ching! More profit, more jobs.1998, Media Foundation, chapter I, in Adbusters, volume 6, page 49:
cha-ching
noun
Etymology Onomatopoeic, imitative of the sound of a mechanical cash register when an amount is rung up. Popularized by the movie Wayne's World (1992) and by an advertisement in 1992 featuring Seth Green. The spoken term is also, in the US, a trademarked sound of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc.
2005, Lee Mylne, advertisement, Frommer′s Portable Australia′s Great Barrier Reef, page 207, They find the best offerings on Travelocity. For very little cha-ching.
[…]but the majority of hotels see guests′ phone calls as a major cha-ching opportunity and charge ridiculously inflated rates.2011, Sylvie Hogg, Frommer′s Italian Islands, unnumbered page:
cha-ching
verb
Etymology Onomatopoeic, imitative of the sound of a mechanical cash register when an amount is rung up. Popularized by the movie Wayne's World (1992) and by an advertisement in 1992 featuring Seth Green. The spoken term is also, in the US, a trademarked sound of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc.
1
Informal To make the noise of a cash register or slot machine.
The young guy bought the woman a refill of the same fine chardonnay that made her dad′s cash register cha-ching with pleasure.2011, Catherine Coulter, Split Second, unnumbered page: