“Did he just say ‘that cost me 20 bucks’ when he was referring to 20 euros?” Yes, sporadically, some people are using the slang word for dollar to refer to the euro. Brits and Irish can say “quid” (the slang for the pound/punt) either in error or out of inertia, but where does bucks come from?

When notes and coins were introduced in 2002, Germans used to joke about the “teuro” (a blend of the word for expensive, “teuer”, and euro) inspired by the mistaken impression that the single currency caused inflation. The French and Walloons still use “balles” (bullets) as they did for their francs. But in Luxembourg nothing much has emerged, although some kids have been heard to say things like “Kans du mir 10 Ö léinen” (can you lend me 10 Os). Some people tried to get “yoyos” off the ground, without success.

Which leads to another question. Do you have 10 euros 50 cents in your pocket or 10 euro 50 cent? The Irish in Ireland (the only Anglophone country with the euro as their currency) overwhelmingly use the latter in casual use, formally and in the media.

This is despite the rest of the world adding an “s” to make a plural as you do with most currencies (but not yen, rand and baht, for example). The invariable form is the officially approved version and this just stuck in Ireland, even though within EU administrations the talk is of “euros”.

Over a decade after the launch of the euro, we have forgotten what an uninspiring, lowest common denominator name it is. Maybe they could have chosen something with an ancient pan-European heritage.

For example, the word thaler (German), tolar (Czech) and tallero (Italy) had been used across the continent since the 16th century. Northern European countries tended to pronounce the word with a “d” at the start. So when the Dutch colonials landed across the Atlantic they introduced their native “daler”. Thus the “dollar” has roots in what is now the Benelux.

But no, that’s not why that bloke in the pub referred to something costing him “20 bucks”.