Ignorance to Make You Gasp

Roberta, when i first visited Mexico in the early 1970s, i quickly learned that it is frustrating and useless to attempt to always convert from the local currency into US dollars, and that it is better to just learn what things cost in the local currency and judge a price on that basis. It's easier than constantly trying to figure the exchange rate. It does help, though, to get a paper and check the exchange rate before changing money.

When i went to Ireland in the late 1970s, an Irish pound was worth about $1.78, but it was foolish to attempt to figure a comparative value in US dollars, since so many things were incredibly cheap (food and drink and lodging) and other things were incredibly expensive (mostly consumer goods and electronics)--it was better, once again, just to learn what things cost locally. I was in a tourist office one time, chatting with the lady working there and looking at brochures, when two ladies in (roughly) their late 30s or early 40s came in. They reminded me of my two cousins of about that age, and even resembled them. They wanted to get a couple of travel guides, so the lady handed them over, and then said that they were seven shillings each. When Ireland went decimal (as they had done in England), the five penny coin was called a shilling, because there were twenty of them in a pound (many older Irish complained they'd been cheated, because the "shilling" went from twelve pennies to only five). So, she was basically asking for 35 pence from each of them. They were clueless, and bewildered. One of them stepped up to me, and asked if i would help them, and then opened her change purse. So i explained to her that the "shilling" was the five penny coin, and showed her one, and then showed her that there was a ten penny coin, a twenty penny coin and a half pound coin (which was not round, but seven sided--you could feel the difference in your pocket without looking, so you wouldn't mistake it for a twenty penny coin). They became all happy and excited, and after paying for the guide books, they got together with me to go over their money, and figure out what everything was worth. I advised them that they ought to learn the coinage and the bank notes, just so as not to aggravate the locals--and pointed out that whipping out a twenty pound note would just piss people off when they had to make change.

The lady in the tourist office just rolled her eyes and looked at them with disgust.

When I lived in Brooklyn, I used to argue with a girl about the most ridiculous things. If I said I'd just bought a quart of milk, she'd come back with, "Here, we call it a container of milk." No explanation for calling it otherwise was acceptable. Talking about frankfurters, she slapped me for mentioning weenies in her presence. When I bent to empty a can of food into the cat's dish, it jumped on my arm and raked my flesh with all four sets of claws. To her, this was some funny ****. Next day, the cat was gone; it had scratched her leg, making a deep gash.

... Which made it a pussy?

Squinney, Even I, a city kid, know which end of a bovine reveals the gender. Once met a cow up close and personal at a dairy (I'd seen them in fields, but never got close). Dem tings is big! Made me nervous.

Setanta, My travel days are over, so I don't have to worry about foreign currency. I never got the hang of it when I was young and sharp. Just as well I won't need to deal with it now that I'm old and dull.

Edgar, Don't like the little girl you mention. However, we Noo Yawkers have our own way of saying things--in our own accents. The first time I was exposed to people who didn't have New York accents, I laughed myself silly. I thought, well this must me what hicks sound like. I've learned a lot since then. BTW, I don't know whether Brooklyn had its own approach to milk. In my neighborhood (in da Bronx), a quart was a quart. And many of us had milk delivered in bottles. What would the little brat say to that?

ooooo Roberta, do you call raw hamburger "chop meat"?



I was always having to go down to the ShopRite for my mother to pick up chop meat for dinner.

We feed it to our turtles too.


Chop Meat, it's what's for Dinner.

and....and....buki rolls!!

Chai Tea, Oh, you brought back memories. Chop meat. In my family, I think it was chopped meat. May just be the editor in me creating a distorted memory. But the term was there.

I have absolutely no idea what a buki roll is.

Did you play with a Spaldine?

Yes...

Looking back on it, Set, it was obviously the way to go.

At the time though, it was just the way it was. We were brought up with that system, and it all seemed very strange when suddenly, everything was in tens (decimal).

Our old money must have been extremely confusing for any visitors from overseas who were used to decimal money. Added to this, we had nicknames (like you have dime, etc), for various coins. You've already mentioned the "tanner" (sixpence), thruppence, or threepence, was also known as a "Joey" in London, pennies, ha'pennies and farthings (a quarter of a penny - I just vaguely remember those in use) were collectively known as "copper", ie "a bag full of copper". "Silver" covered all the silver coloured coins in the same way.
The crown had gone out of usage before I started knowing money, but the Two shilling piece, or "two bob bit", was also called a "florin", but that name was fast dying out in the 60's.

Again, in London, the pound note was also known as a "sov". "That'll cost yer three sovs, guv".

Multiples of pounds get very interesting indeed. In london again, most people over 50 (born and bred Londoners) would understand what you meant if you referred to certain quantities of pounds as follows :-

A "Score" = £20.
A "Pony" = £25
A "Ton" = £100
A "Monkey" = £500
A "Grand" = £1000

Grand, is about the only one that has come into popular usage outside London and the UK, I think.

Yes, in the U.S., a thousand dollars is "a grand," and the same with multiples, as in 20 grand.

You don't know where "grand" comes from, in that context, do you?

(Did people in England claim they'd been robbed because shillings went from twelve pennies to five?)

You made me think of something else--when i was in Ireland in the 70s, people still referred to a punt (an Irish pound) as "a quid," and still called the "shilling" a bob--of course, there was less use for the latter term, as few things could easily be calculated in 5 penny pieces--although i do remember half pints of stout being offered by the barman for "five bob."

Spaldine....wow that sounds really familiar, but I'm not quite sure. I could look it up, but it'd be more fun if you tell me.

buki rolls, I have no idea if I'm spelling it right, to the unpracticed eye, would look just like an ordinary dinner type roll. But of course you have to experience the entire package.

First off, you have to get buki rolls fresh and warm right from the bakery, none of that goddam store bought bread.

Also, it doesn't hurt to be a Catlick. I guess a Jewish person would buy their buki rolls Friday on the way home from work, but I'm not sure if it would have the same "oomph".....see, ya gotta get them when you get outta Mass, and ya better rush over to the bakery before everybody and his brother is there buying their stuff. Since your never quick enough to beat the 80 year old women there (how the hell did they get out of Mass and over there so quick?), you ended up waitng for a while. You wished the line would hurry up already because everybody else is at home waiting not only for their buki rolls, but for their hard rolls and rye bread. The bakery would be all crowded because this was expecially something you got when it was winter. Everyone would be standing there with their sunday newspapers they got next door at Lenzens under their arms.

You'd finally be next in line (there wasn't any such thing as a lame number system, you built character by making your way to the front of the line....oh, did I say line.....that was something that was very loosely defined) then you get all your stuff, plus a couple of black and white cookies and maybe a few choclate cupcakes for the road.

Then, you go back outside where it's 24 degrees out and a 35 mile and hour wind. You see some friends standing outside smoking cigarettes, so you join them and spend the next 25 minutes horsing around. When your ankles got good and numb, you'd leave, slipping on the ice a few time and getting hit by a couple of snowballs. When you got home, those buki rolls were the best thing in the world.

so, now you know what buki rolls are.

Bowel Movement

I forgot "quid". We use that all the time as well! I say quid much more than I do Pound!

I think (I've no idea where this particular memory comes from) that the term "grand" has something to do with a posh horse race somewhere.

I don't know how it all fits together, but I'm positive it's something to do with horses.

I'll have a google.

Maybe I was wrong?

According to this, it was brought over here by YOU lot!

OUTRAGEOUS!

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgrand.html

I'll keep searching, as my Country's pride is now at stake!

<Ellpus huffs off>

Grand stand?

Chai Tea, Spaldine. A small pink ball designed for bouncing--stoop ball, stick ball, slug, hit the penny, A my name is Alice. Written on the ball in a lovely old script logo was Spalding. The leap from Spalding to Spaldine is a mystery. The reason we didn't refer to such things as balls seemed obvious then and still does now.

Does anyone know why it's 20 grand and not 20 grands? I was explaining different expressions we Americans use for money to my ESL students. I told them never to use the plural with grand, but I couldn't explain why.

Heeven, ROFLMAO. You are too much.

I think the full name was Spalding...

it was pink. The deal was, it bounced very very high.

Boss, you're lucky.
I had to do the math myself, while reading all those pound-crown-shilling-penny-farthing examples in "Das Kapital".



I swear this is true.

The year was not so recent (1975) and the American tourist was middle aged.
I was sitting next to the Fountain of Trevi, in Rome, and the daughter asked the father: "How old is this fountain, dad?".
The man took his dictionary and asked a carabiniere in mararronic Italian: "Quanto vecchio questo fontana?".
The policeman pointed to the engraved date: MDCCLXII
"What's that?", asked the American.
The carabiniere wrote down in a piece of paper: 1762.
The American father proudly pronounced: "This fountain is 1762 years old... so it must have been made in... let's see... the year 213".
"Geed, that's old dad", said the girl, as her father patted her shoulder.

And the fountain is a sort of paste-on to another building...

Trying to remember the fellow who did the re-do of the piazza del populo, French guy, also got involved with the trevi area, wanting to enlarge the space.

Eh, it's all in my notes.

I liked being there near dawn, as happens to those who fly from afar...
and getting an espresso near the fountain. No one there but us...

One of those coin changing machines would surely help..

I was disappointed in the Trevi Fountain. It appeared to be stuck onto the back of an office building or some such thing. Threw in a coin anyway. Don't remember whether my wish came true.