Money talks
Using foreign currency can be a stressful experience for even the most seasoned travellers - trying to calculate the exchange rate in your head whilst frantically thumbing through an array of unfamiliar coins can cause even the most laid-back traveller to get worked up. However, as with the challenge of speaking the local language, seeing, touching, and learning about a new currency all contribute to the cultural experience of travelling – and the currency can teach you a lot more about a country than simply its financial situation.
For example, cordoba, the currency of Nicaragua, is named after Fernández de Córdoba, a 16th-century Spanish governor of Nicaragua, whereas kuna, the basic monetary unit of Croatia, recalls a historical period when the fur of the marten (a weasel-like mammal) was a medium of exchange.
By exploring the list of related words for each currency unit (under ‘More words in this category’ to the right of the definition) you can also begin to see some common themes emerging among these origins. Some of the most popular types of money words are derived from:
- flora and fauna (Croatian kuna; Guatemalan quetzal; Malawian tambala)
- famous historical figures (Nicaraguan cordoba; the colon of Costa Rica and El Salvador; Panamanian balboa; Tajikistani somoni)
- the metals the coins are (or were) made of (Nigerian kobo; Mongolian mongo)
- fractions or numbers (Mauritanian khoum; former centime of France, Belgium, etc; as well as Thai satang or ‘hundred’)
- names of peoples, countries or regions (Paraguayan Guarani, European euro, Latvian lat, Bolivian boliviano,)
Of course, it’s not always the official name of the currency which is the most popular. Can you think which one word is used unofficially to describe three different types of currency – dollar, Rand, and rupee?
Become an armchair explorer today and go on an online voyage of discovery from afghani to zloty. You can bet your bottom dollar that you’ll find plenty of unusual and unfamiliar words, plus some old favourites…
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World of words
Authors: Catherine Soanes and Katy Pearce
Date: 07/07/2010