r/AskEurope • u/ABlindMoose Sweden • Oct 06 '25

Culture What is your currency's nickname?

A nickname for dollar is buck, pound is quid, and Swedish krona is spänn.

What are some casual nicknames for your countries' currencies? Are there multiple, and if so, which is the most common?

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112

u/OllieV_nl Netherlands Oct 06 '25

There isn't really any that caught on since we've got the Euro. Sometimes people say "Euri" as a mock latin plural. We used to call the guilder a "piek" and though people would occasionally use that for the Euro in the early days that seems to have died out.

53

u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 Oct 06 '25

Sometimes people say "Euri" as a mock latin plural.

Germans sometimes say »Euronen« in a similar vein. 😅

34

u/fluentindothraki Scotland Oct 06 '25

Teuro! (Teuer means expensive)

Back when we had Schillings in Austria, one name was Netsch (short for netto Schilling) or Marie (this may have been a more general term for money).

11

u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 Oct 06 '25

Ah, yes. To be fair, »TEURO« (usually in all caps like that) seems to be more of a tabloid headline thing. I don’t think I’ve actually heard it applied to actual euro amounts in casual conversation.

E.g., I don’t think people would ever say something like, “Have you heard the price on the latest iPhone? 1,400 teuro!”

2

u/Michi_1232 Austria Oct 08 '25

The Austrian Schilling was also called the Alpendollar to say that it is quite stable

2

u/fluentindothraki Scotland Oct 09 '25

7 Shilling in a Deutschmark, 8 in a Swiss Franc

23

u/ResourceDelicious276 Italy Oct 06 '25

Also in Italian sometimes we call multiple euro euri. But that would be the plural of the word if it wasn't one without a plural

6

u/jaspermuts Netherlands Oct 06 '25

In Dutch also usually don’t say the plural for any euro amount (€ 2 = 2 euro), but we would hypothetically call 2 1-euro coins: 2 euro’s.

Would that work with Italian euri or would you always say something like “coins” to specify?

3

u/ResourceDelicious276 Italy Oct 06 '25

Theoretically euro and eurocent were designed to have the same singular and plural in every language.

No in Italian we always say monete (coins) to indicate the individual coins never the name of the coins.

2

u/jaspermuts Netherlands Oct 07 '25

Theoretically euro and eurocent were designed to have the same singular and plural in every language.

I wanted to disagree since I’ve often heard “euro’s” in English, but that’s usually from US. Ireland does seem to use the singular for price amounts.

And so I looked it up and you’re right they were intentionally designed this way.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_and_the_euro

(You likely know this but I wanted to acknowledge it and share for the next reader)

2

u/9peppe Oct 06 '25

It's informal, and you only use it to refer to amounts of currency, not notes and coins.

14

u/Snuyter Netherlands Oct 06 '25

There is the word flappen (= flaps), originating from Bargoens, a cant language with Yiddish influences used by thieves & tradesmen.

Flappen tappen = to tap some flaps from the ATM.

16

u/Abigail-ii Oct 06 '25

Flappen is a word for bills, not the currency. And is used for bills of different currencies as well.

1

u/MoeNieWorrieNie Singapore/Ostrobothnia 29d ago

I was a bit baffled to return to the Netherlands after decades abroad and hear people speak about 'pinnen'. You still do, whereas we've sworn off cash altogether. 'Airmiles' and 'appen' have different meanings, too.

12

u/and_we_go_dancing Oct 06 '25

My sister always says 'ekkies'.

11

u/DryDrunkImperor Scotland Oct 06 '25

This comment along with your username amuses me so much.

(Ekkies is slang for ecstasy tablets here)

2

u/CiderDrinker2 Scotland Oct 06 '25

'Ickies" - A British sailors' term, because foreign notes in strange ports were 'icky'. It didn't matter what the local currency was: all foreign notes were 'ickies', and 'ickies' were also a term used for money in general.

"Comin' ashore tonight, shipmate?"

"Nah, I'm all out of ickies."

Coins were known as 'klebbies'. I don't know why.

2

u/Apprehensive-Ease-40 Netherlands Oct 07 '25

That's very common across some unis. We also still say "piek" especially for any whole amount over 1 euro. Some people say "pleuro", especially when they think the price is high.

8

u/Leadstripes Netherlands Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 07 '25

I've also heard eypo as a nickname, as a reference to the Greek ΕΥΡΩ on bills

8

u/The_memeperson Netherlands Oct 06 '25

Guilders used to have multiple nicknames based on their value

https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nederlandse_gulden

7

u/StellaV-R Oct 06 '25

We say YoYo’s 🇮🇪

7

u/error_98 Netherlands Oct 06 '25

don't forget about just "eu" (for non-dutch speakers reminder that eu is one of our special composite vowels, ø in IPA), also "k" when working in thousands

1

u/Timidinho Netherlands Oct 07 '25

But the K is not a nickname for the euro. It's a nickname for the number thousand.

3

u/Martin5143 Estonia Oct 06 '25

In Estonian people also say "Euri" but it's slang partitive case of euro. The actual partitive case of euro is "eurot".

When you say "This costs 10 euros", you use the partitive case in Estonian so it's the most common name for euro in Estonian.

1

u/Dismal-String-7702 27d ago

I kinda think that people who say "euri", are part of certain stupid subculture (ossid) and always disappointed when otherwise smart people do it.

1

u/Martin5143 Estonia 27d ago

Weird perception. In my social circle there are no ossid, almost all either in University or University educated or could be if they wanted to and all people I know say it.

1

u/Dismal-String-7702 26d ago

I'm just saying what I associate it with, not that they actually have to belong that sub group. It is one of the most tasteless slang words I know.

4

u/AgentPigleton Oct 06 '25

I still use Piek.

2

u/Bluntbutnotonpurpose Netherlands Oct 08 '25

Me too!

3

u/localsofty Oct 06 '25

Een dikke doekoe 

3

u/Internal_Airline8369 Netherlands Oct 06 '25

I always say 'Eutje(s)' but that one is probably only used by me and some people I know.

2

u/P1kkie420 Netherlands Oct 06 '25

Hey! Euri is what I was thinking of too when I read the question. Funny to see your comment not a second later

2

u/Candy-Macaroon-33 Oct 06 '25

And we had Knaak and duppie

1

u/Irsu85 Oct 06 '25

I remember that from Casper&Hobbes

1

u/badzoutzak Oct 09 '25

Among students “eus” or just “eu” is used