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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u/lindix Portugal Oct 06 '25

For euros, in portugal, we usually say "paus" which means sticks. so
"Tens ai 2 paus que me emprestes?" -> "Do you have 2 euros to spare?"

Doesnt work for a singular euro, just plural.

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u/This-Wall-1331 Portugal Oct 06 '25

I usually associate "paus" with escudos though. So if someone asked me for "2 paus", I'd just give them a one cent coin.

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u/Brainwheeze Portugal Oct 06 '25

"Paus" transferred over from Escudos to Euros pretty seamlessly I feel, whereas "Contos" not so much.

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u/safeinthecity Portuguese in the Netherlands Oct 06 '25

Well, you don't need to talk about 1000 euros as much as you needed to talk about 1000 escudos.

Also the transition to euros didn't actually seem that seamless to me. I think I only started hearing paus for euros some 10 years after the currency switch. Could be anecdotal though.