There are countless reasons I am glad to live in Canada. This is one of them.
Years ago, the government decided to get rid of our green one dollar bills. I forget the reasons now, but the plan was to introduce a gold-coloured, one-dollar coin. The change was made, and the transition went smoothly. We already had a one-dollar coin which we all referred to as the silver dollar, but for some reason, all governmentally like, it was decided a second coin was needed.
Also needed was a name for the new coin. We had the penny, the nickel, the dime, the quarter, the fifty cent piece and the silver dollar. What would this new dollar be called? The government dragged its heels.
So Canadians took it upon themselves. One of our favourite birds up here in Canada is the loon. Most often found in forested northern areas near lakes, the loon lets up a hauntingly beautiful cry.
Hence, our new one-dollar coin became the “loonie.” The name stuck. No official name was ever conceived of.
A few years later, those crazy government people were at it again. Time to get rid of our red two-dollar bill. Another new coin would be struck, this one a mixture of gold and silver.
Almost before the first one rolled off the assembly line, Canadians got busy. A loonie was worth one dollar and now we had a new coin that was worth two dollars. Nothing to do but to call it a “toonie.” We have no bird in Canada called a “toon”. But a loonie doubled just had to be a toonie.
There are a lot of government naming specialists looking for work today.
Now there is talk of issuing another new coin to take the place of our blue five-dollar bill. I am looking forward to the name this one will get. A “foonie”, maybe. A fivey. Or a “funny” to rhyme with money.
Back to why I love Canada.
We manage, somehow, from time to time, to still keep things pretty simple.
©2016 Jim Hagarty
