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ArchivesDrachma RIP...long live the Euro!
Farewell Drachma, most ancient of European coins :( Ironically, you were derived from the word "dratto" meaning to "hold on to". Not! Farewell, Franc, Lira, DM, etc etc. Yesterday most of us Europeans woke up with a new currency -- the Euro. Here's a brief etymological analysis of the Euro:
1. From "eurus" (wide, open) and "ops" (eye, face, countenance). Could mean open-eyed.
2. From "eurus" (wide, open) and "ope" (hole).
3. From "europos" meaning "easily inclining"
4. From "euros" meaning to "mold, mildew". This word is related to the Latin "rodere" (to chew, masticate) from which the word rodent evolved.
5. From "Euro", derived from the aboriginal "uroo," a species of Kangaroo.
You can't imagine what a strange sensation it was when I first held an Euro bill. Seemed like toy money. Spent my first Euro bill yesterday morning to buy flowers for luck. It this single-currency experiment fails, Europeans will be in deep doodoo. And the grinning Brits will become the 51 state of the US :P
1. From "eurus" (wide, open) and "ops" (eye, face, countenance). Could mean open-eyed.
2. From "eurus" (wide, open) and "ope" (hole).
3. From "europos" meaning "easily inclining"
4. From "euros" meaning to "mold, mildew". This word is related to the Latin "rodere" (to chew, masticate) from which the word rodent evolved.
5. From "Euro", derived from the aboriginal "uroo," a species of Kangaroo.
You can't imagine what a strange sensation it was when I first held an Euro bill. Seemed like toy money. Spent my first Euro bill yesterday morning to buy flowers for luck. It this single-currency experiment fails, Europeans will be in deep doodoo. And the grinning Brits will become the 51 state of the US :P
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Well, in a nutshell, 300 million Europeans woke up on Jan 1 with a different currency -- sort of looks like Monopoly money, only flimsier. This is the biggest voluntary secession of national sovereignty ever. The Brits the Swedes and the Danes are the only ones to hold on to their currencies. People are now shopping with a calculator at hand -- so as not to get ripped of -- until they get used to the new currency!
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