A couple of weeks ago, David commented that he is sometimes confused when people use the word "bucks" to refer to currency other than our own U.S. dollar. He's got a certain sense of the meaning of "buck," of its value, and he finds himself surprised for a moment when it's used to mean something else.
I didn't think much of the comment - I didn't see why it would be such a big deal. But then I was happily reading the movie site Passion for Cinema when I suffered a case of mental whiplash upon encountering the following:
But the fan is pissed off. Like hell. It takes a lot of hard work to earn money and then to pay 500 bucks for a movie ticket shows passion. and what does the fan get in return - crap.
500 bucks for a movie ticket??? It took me a moment longer than it should have to remember what I was reading: that's 500 Rupees .
Rs500 (~$13) is usually a gold-class multiplex ticket - Lazyboy booth seating with dinner and drinks served during the movie. You can watch a movie for much less than that. But of course I'm sure you knew that :).
Posted by: Maajhi | October 06, 2007 at 12:17 PM
We use "bucks" for Canadian dollars.
Posted by: John | October 18, 2007 at 03:32 PM
"David commented that he is sometimes confused when people use the word "bucks" to refer to currency other than our own U.S. dollar"
This I can empathise with. I still have real trouble grokking the use of "kiwi" for "kiwifruit". When I read someone say that something has a taste or texture similar to "kiwi", I automatically wonder what sort of barbarians could possibly be eating our extremely endangered national bird. It's not just the US/UK that are "separated by a common language". Of course, if the greenback keeps sliding, then maybe $500US will be 500Rs before too long. :-)
Posted by: | November 12, 2007 at 04:19 PM