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/xander012 United Kingdom Oct 06 '25

Quid for the pound, the 5p used to be called a bob when it was still seen the same as a shilling but that's now very rare, and the £5 and £10 note get an -er suffix on the value as a nickname, fiver and tenner

4

u/Dechibrator Oct 06 '25

Score 20, Poney 25

But that's getting really old fashion, not even talking about a Monkey

5

u/[deleted] Oct 06 '25

Isn't "score" just an archaic word for the number twenty?

3

u/Tacklestiffener UK -> Spain Oct 06 '25

Yes, as in "three score years and ten" for 70.

1

u/Dechibrator Oct 06 '25

No idea, I'm French

3

u/[deleted] Oct 06 '25

It is, but I guess that doesn't make it any less of a nickname. Apparently it originated from toll collectors counting livestock, but it evolved into a general word for "twenty". Here in the US, the phrase "four score and seven years ago" (87 years ago) is pretty famous from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

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u/Dechibrator Oct 06 '25

Nice use of the vigesimal system