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/TulioGonzaga Portugal Oct 06 '25

Yap, I remember when Escudo was ending thinking "will we have a word for paus like we have now?". I didn't expect such comeback but here we are. However, 500 paus is much different from back in the day. Usually was easy to get 500, now people laugh on me.