Word of the week: Canadianisms: Loonie and Toonie
getting back to things, here's a join word of the week/just Canadian things for you.
Loonie
The loonie, aka the $1 coin. Named such as, in 1987 when Canada moved from the $1 bill to the $1 coin, the winning design for the back was a lovely loon. To differentiate from the quarter (and other coinage that are silver in colour, the loonie is brass). Called huard, or loon, in Quebec.
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However, the move to the coin resulted in an explosion in popularity of the $2 bill (which prior to this was as popular as the $2 bill is in the States today), which in turn led to the introduction in 1996 of the…
Toonie
When the chuckleheads at the Mint decided to turf the $2 bill in favour of a $2 coin it was in turn nicknamed the "toonie" (a portmanteau of "two" and "loonie"), because Canadians love a two-trick pony. Also known as the twoonie if you're trying to make up points in Scrabble. Apparently called deux piastres or deux piastres rond in Quebec because at that point the linguistic logic fell apart - if anyone out there is Québécois, please correct me if that's wrong.
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Fun fact, when they introduced the toonie, everyone tried to get the two parts to pop apart. I was working at a fast food restaurant at the time and i had a couple of ten-year-olds trying to buy an ice cream cone with a separated toonie. I swapped it out for a $2 bill in my pocket and kept the outer part on a chain; still have it around somewhere (unless you're from the Mint in pursuit of criminal charges as it relates to currency defacement in which case I didn't and I don't)
And bonus:
If you’re ever up in Canada and at a liquor store and someone suggests you get a mickey, they’re not offering to spike your drink, they’re suggesting you get a bottle of liquor that is 375ml, or 13 florida ounces.
And I cannot find anyone who has a reason as to why we call it that.
