What is quarter?

The answer is 1/4 or 25%. Then, what is the quarter of 1 dollar? That is right. It is 25 cents. People in the U.S. and Canada call 25 cents quarter. In fact, you would hardly hear 25 cents. They mostly call it quarter.

United States coin (source: wikipedia)

How about 1 cent? Penny. (I do not know where this is from. Does anybody know?)

How about 5 cents? Nickel. (This is because the coin is made from nickel alloy. It used to be made from silver but then there was a shortage of silver so that it was changed to nickel alloy.)

Shall we keep going? 10 cents is dime. (It is because this coin is the smallest in diameter.)

A dollar is a buck. This one’s etymology is pretty interesting. So, buck is male deer. In 1856, people stated to use this word to mean dollar because buckskin was used as a unit of trade between Indians and Europeans. And, they dropped “skin” from “buckskin” as they use.

One grand is 1,000 dollars.  Some people also call it “large” or “stack.” Well, the word grand itself means basically large. And…..Back then, 1,000 dollars was a large sum of money and thus people call that amount large or grand. Now, people still call 1,000 dollars “grand.” Besides, it is really easier and faster to say “one grand” instead of saying “one thousand dollars.” You would hear this one a lot in the United States too.

Out of all there slangs, you know which ones are the hardest ones to distinguish each other. They are nickel and dime. But, if you can remember that dime is the smallest in diameter and know that 10 cents is the smallest coin, you can distinguish them better.

But, very interestingly, there is an expression called, “nickel and dime.” For example, if you have any customer, trying to get as much as possible from you without paying a lot. You can say like, “He has a tendency to nickel and dime. So, you better be careful with him.”

Here is the definition :  Cause seemingly hidden ongoing expenses which, over time, add up to a large expense.

Have you ever looked at the United States coins closely? If you do, you can find the following two expressions.

1. E pluribus unum : It is Latin for “Out of many, one.” and this is a motto of the United States. You can find this one on the seal of the United States too.

2. In God we trust : Until this became the official motto of the United States by law in 1956, “E pluribus unum” was recognized as the motto of the United States. Now, this is the official motto of the United States.

I guess these could be one of the questions that would be in the U.S. citizenship exam? It is just amazing how much I can learn, writing posts for my blog.