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Wikipedia reads that in Spanish Dar el braguetazo 'se dice de un hombre que ha encontrado un buen partido para casarse, que le saca de toda penuria y preocupación,' — e.g., to marry for money, where the man is poor and the woman is rich.

I don't know why, but after some searches I found no Spanish expression to describe, contrary to "Dar el braguetazo", a marriage of a poor woman to a rich man, which is, as far as I know, a more common case.

Thus, my question is, at least in English, is there an expression to describe a poor woman who marries for money a rich man?

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    Why assume it's a poor woman? Rich women are much more likely to be able to marry for money.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 2:02
  • 5
    What do I call a poor woman who marries for money? Sensible.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 12:25

2 Answers 2

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Gold digger is the usual term for somebody who pursues a relationship for money. Its connotation is more greed than poverty, however. If you want a more neutral term, I'd suggest marriage of convenience.

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  • Perhaps the ultimate form of social climbing.
    – bib
    Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 2:10
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Consider hypergamy

(colloquially referred to as "marrying up") is the act or practice of marrying a spouse of higher caste or status than oneself.

The term does not specifically refer to money, but social class or caste and money are very closely related.

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    This answer may not be as good as Bradd's, but it certainly makes a nice complement to Bradd's. I'm glad you gave it a mention.
    – J.R.
    Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 9:44
  • @J.R. I agree that Brad's answer is the most appropriate for common parlance (and I voted it up even before I looked this one up), but in the realm of esoteric pomposity ...
    – bib
    Commented Sep 7, 2013 at 17:06

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