THE MONEY CHANGERS

Sir, I see they've decided that the new European currency will be the Euro

Sir, I see they've decided that the new European currency will be the Euro. It reminds me of the old saying a camel is a race horse designed by a committee.

Most major currencies have names that are the same in every language dollar, mark, yen, franc, lira. However, they also sound roughly the same, no matter what language you are speaking.

Although the Euro will have the same name in every country, few will pronounce it the same way. Across Europe it will be the You ro, the Oiro, the Eh-ooro, the Ayooro, the Evro, the Uh-ro, the Erro and so on. Here in Dublin, I've already heard of the Yew-ro, the Yewer-o and the Yer-o. We'll be a community divided by a common currency.

I suspect it may become known as the " ro", since that's the only bit on which we all agree. This should be "row" in English, since we'll all be in the same boat, although possibly without a paddle.

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Perhaps it's a scheme to find new jobs for foreign exchange dealers. When we're trying to talk business with other Europeans, we'll need someone to convert their Euro into ours. Yours, etc., Castletown, Leixlip, Co Kildare.