Try as I may, I cannot stop using the terms dollars and bucks when it comes to talking about prices. I don't know why I have such difficulty saying euros, perhaps because the name of the currency is so damn pretentious. And a bit silly. It could be because the relative nature of both currencies is so similar. I have no issue calling pounds pounds or quid, I don't make the same mistakes with any currencies but the euro. Of course, I don't have occasion to use pounds on a regular basis so who knows, it might different if I actually lived in England.
I am tired of the confused stares that inevitably ensue when I say dollars. Greeks seem to have a problem with understanding meaning if you don't say exactly what you mean. I don't know if the problem is that they are obtuse or they are just trying hard to make you look like an idiot. But they'll give you the same look if you use the wrong article in a sentence or misconjugate a verb. At any rate, the people closest to me understand what the hell I mean. It isn't that hard to figure out.
I'm thinking maybe someone needs to come up with a good slang term for the euro, something akin to bucks or quid. I think I could get on board with something good, something like shiner or bog. "That'll cost ya a shiner!" or "That crap costs 20 bogs?"
In the meantime, I'll work at getting my currencies right. Ten shiners says if I ever go back to America for a visit I'll call dollars euros. Just wait.
4 comments:
I really feel your pain on this one. I am always saying dollar instead of euro. When I refer to the actual dollar, I say "dollar, dollar". So my conversations go like this.
Me: "Wow, that plane ticket costs 1,100 dollars.
The Italian: "That's a lot"
Me: "Yea, that's like 1,500 dollar dollars".
I don't feel so bad. The Italian still uses the Lire.
Italian: "We just spent 50euros on dinner. That's like, five hundred thousand million lire"!
And whats with putting the comma where the decimal goes?
I don’t think they are beying obtuse, or trying to make you feel like an idiot. They simply get surprised. I can understand that. Try to talk about euros in a grocery store in the US. But I agree with you, when you say we should invent a nickname for the euro.
António
Yea, I don't get the comma instead of decimal thing either. It seems weird to me, but then I guess the decimal seems weird to Europeans.
Maybe they freeze since you are speaking english with an american accent.
I mean isn't it more logical to mean what you say..
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