No slang name for Euro?

[Grant Barrett]

An article in "Les Echos," a French-language business journal, claims
that in the three years since the introduction of the Euro, no slang
words for the unit of currency have appeared. Does anyone know if
that's true outside of French?

http://www.lesechos.fr/journal20050315/lec1_derniere/4238493.htm

The article picked up some possibilities proposed by a paper-only revue
known as "Teckel" (the article does not appear on its site
<http://lescontrebandiers.free.fr/>):

"Eurouilles" (a play on "rouille" 'rust-colored') or "cuivres"
("coppers") for the 1, 2, and 5 cent pieces.

"Roses" in general for "euros," from a supposed (plural?) American
pronunciation of "euros" as "youroses."

"Ponts" ("bridges") for the paper money, many which have images of
generic architecture on them. The 5-euro bill could be the "petit pont"
("small bridge"), the 20-euro note the "grand pont" ("big bridge") or
"carne" ("meat," a reference to the approximate 20-euro cost of a meal
that includes meat at a restaurant).

"Gillette" for the rarely seen 500 euro bill, because "it is quickly
transformed into little cuts" ("il est vite transformé en petites
coupures"), meaning it is quickly broken or changed for (more useful)
smaller denomination bills.

"Queue" for the 1000 euro bill, from the pronunciationof "kE," for
"kilo Euro," referencing the saying, "win the tail and the ears," which
I believe is a bull-fighting reference, or "cherry stems" ("des queues
de cerise"), which I believe means "peanuts" or "small amount" or
"scraps." There may be a ribald element here, since "queue" is
widespread slang for "penis."

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org