| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | English usage: "euro" with upper or lower-case e Thread poster: Maria Karra
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Maria Karra 
United States
Local time: 13:27
Member (2000)
Greek to English
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Here's some interesting information about the word "euro" that I found on xe.com (currency-conversion website) and which I'd like to share with you:
A note about spelling and capitalization: the official spelling of the EUR currency unit in the English language is "euro", with a lower case "e". However, the overwhelmingly prevailing industry practise to spell it "Euro", with a capital "E". Since other currency names are capitalized in general use, doing so helps differentiate... See more Here's some interesting information about the word "euro" that I found on xe.com (currency-conversion website) and which I'd like to share with you:
A note about spelling and capitalization: the official spelling of the EUR currency unit in the English language is "euro", with a lower case "e". However, the overwhelmingly prevailing industry practise to spell it "Euro", with a capital "E". Since other currency names are capitalized in general use, doing so helps differentiate the noun "Euro", meaning EUR currency, from the more general adjective "euro", meaning anything even remotely having to do with Europe. This is particularly pervasive in marketing and advertising, where it is common to read statements like, "Try new Goop™ hair gel with genuine euro style and hold!" Nevertheless, this linguistic nuance is very subtle, even for native English speakers. it is also important to note that many languages have different official spellings of the name or EUR unit, which also may or may not coincide with general use.
http://www.xe.com/euro.htm ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rebecca Jowers
Spain
Local time: 19:27
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Euro with lower case | Mar 9, 2006 |
I have personally always thought that euro should be capitalized but, alas, unless it is used in the title of an article or appears as the first word of a sentence, all European Union sources concerning the single currency use "euro" with a lower-case "e".
http://europa.eu.int/euro/
| | | | | Why capitalize? | Mar 9, 2006 |
Rebecca Jowers wrote:
I have personally always thought that euro should be capitalized but, alas, unless it is used in the title of an article or appears as the first word of a sentence, all European Union sources concerning the single currency use "euro" with a lower-case "e".
http://europa.eu.int/euro/
We don't capitalize dollar, nor did we capitalize franc, peso or lire when they were still around. So I really don't see why the euro deserves a capital "e"... unless it's all part of the euroflation that has unfortunately accompanied the currency!
Catherine
| | | | Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)
Local time: 13:27
| You took the words from my mouth... | Mar 9, 2006 |
cbolton wrote:
We don't capitalize dollar, nor did we capitalize franc, peso or lire when they were still around. So I really don't see why the euro deserves a capital "e"... unless it's all part of the euroflation that has unfortunately accompanied the currency!
Catherine
I thought exactly the same...
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Latin_Hellas (X)
United States
Local time: 19:27
Italian to English
+ ...
| A Matter Of Choice | Mar 10, 2006 |
I read, write, and translate financial texts everyday and I have NOT noticed that "the overwhelmingly prevailing industry practise to spell it "Euro", with a capital "E"."
What I have noticed is any combination of euro with small 'e' or capital 'E' either before or after the figure. What is most distressing to me is that only a few customers prefer the use of the € symbol.
[Edited at 2006-03-10 08:30]
| | | | | the better question: what is the plural? | Mar 10, 2006 |
As already mentioned, the xe article doesn't jibe with daily experience. Dollar, franc, etc aren't capitalized, so I don't capitalize euro.
Here's the more difficult question: what's the plural of euro? Officially (i.e. at the EU level) it's been declared to be 'euro', 1 euro 2 euro. In practice, however, particularly in the UK and Ireland, that is less followed, I am led to believe. What's your experience?
| | | | | One euro and two euros | Mar 10, 2006 |
Steven Sidore wrote:
As already mentioned, the xe article doesn't jibe with daily experience. Dollar, franc, etc aren't capitalized, so I don't capitalize euro.
Here's the more difficult question: what's the plural of euro? Officially (i.e. at the EU level) it's been declared to be 'euro', 1 euro 2 euro. In practice, however, particularly in the UK and Ireland, that is less followed, I am led to believe. What's your experience?
I adhere to this only in legal and financial documents. Any other documents, gets the "euros" version. I wonder why the EU decided not to have a distinctive plural?
| | | | Steffen Walter
Germany
Local time: 19:27
Member (2002)
English to German
+ ...
| But don't you say "dollars" as well? | Mar 10, 2006 |
It appears that the same analogy as with (non-)capitalisation holds true here as well. Why should we omit the plural S and write "euro" while we write "dollars", "francs" and so on?
Steffen
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RobinB
United States
Local time: 12:27
German to English
| Just about as wrong as they could be.... | Mar 10, 2006 |
Maria,
Sorry, but this source is utter rubbish. They've got just about everything wrong that could possibly get wrong.
The correct spelling of euro is all lower-case, and this is by far and away the preferred form for educated native English writers at least. I think that most cases of "Euro" are probably attributable to non-natives, and to ignorant native speakers.
I addressed this very issue in my own (Ge-En-Ge) dictionary of EMU published in 1999, where ... See more Maria,
Sorry, but this source is utter rubbish. They've got just about everything wrong that could possibly get wrong.
The correct spelling of euro is all lower-case, and this is by far and away the preferred form for educated native English writers at least. I think that most cases of "Euro" are probably attributable to non-natives, and to ignorant native speakers.
I addressed this very issue in my own (Ge-En-Ge) dictionary of EMU published in 1999, where I quoted HM Treasury, Report from tbe Business Advisory Group Jan. 1998: 'In common with standard practices for other currencies - the dollar, sterling, the pound - it should be written in English with a lower-case letter e.'
As others have already pointed out, we write dollars, yen, koruna, pesos, etc. all lower-case. But it may be an American influence to write euro with an initial capital, following the tendency there to capitalise everything in sight.
A statement like "it is also important to note that many languages have different official spellings of the name or EUR unit, which also may or may not coincide with general use" from xe.com is equally ridiculous, and I bet they can't come up with one instance to back this claim (with the exception of the official spelling controversy currently smouldering in some of the new EU Member States).
The correct plural of euro is euros, except if you're the ECB. Even the European Commission (see style guide) uses the plural form, except (it tells writers) when the document is written by or for the ECB.
But thanks for the reference anyway - it's useful to see what's being published out there, even if it's entirely wrong!
Robin ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Check out the bills | Mar 10, 2006 |
Open your wallet, take out a bill, read it. What does it say?
Yes, 5-10-20-50-etc... euro (singular) Why? I don't know, but I say euros.
| | | | RobinB
United States
Local time: 12:27
German to English
ivars barzdevics wrote:
Open your wallet, take out a bill, read it. What does it say?
Yes, 5-10-20-50-etc... euro (singular) Why? I don't know, but I say euros.
Because the singular "EURO" on the banknotes is designed to be language-neutral in all Latin-character languages. The fact that this may grammatically incorrect in some languages doesn't bother in the slightest the ECB, which pursues a single-minded "one size fits all policy" in all of its operations - one interest rate, one inflation rate, one misguided monetary policy for the entire euro zone (or "euro area" as the ECB would have us call it, despite the fact that this sounds dangerously like "urinary" in English...).
Robin
| | | | #41698 (LSF)
Malaysia
Local time: 02:27
Japanese to English
+ ...
| No plural in yen and won | Mar 10, 2006 |
RobinB wrote:
Because the singular "EURO" on the banknotes is designed to be language-neutral in all Latin-character languages.
Robin
Not all languages have plural forms. The euro coins and notes are supposed to be legal tender in all EU countries. This is probably "practical standardisation" rather than linguistic correctness.
Other non-plural currencies include the Japanese yen and Korean won.
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E2efour (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:27
Swedish to English
RobinB wrote:
(with the exception of the official spelling controversy currently smouldering in some of the new EU Member States).
The correct plural of euro is euros, except if you're the ECB. Even the European Commission (see style guide) uses the plural form, except (it tells writers) when the document is written by or for the ECB.
Robin
The UK practice is, of course, not to write euro with a capital letter, and its plural is euros. EUR XXXX is used to indicate official currency amounts (although some ignorant people write XXXX EUR (as they do in Sweden when they write XXXX SEK).
What bothers me is why "EU language" should be considered a source of guidance for English usage. There are an awful lot of bad translators of EU documents out there, judging by what I read.
But what is this Member States?! In the UK it is not written in capital letters (nor should it be, we're not German!). The fact that EU documents use it I simply find irritating.
| | | | sylvie malich (X)
Germany
Local time: 19:27
German to English
| "Genuine euro style"? | Mar 10, 2006 |
And what, pray tell, is "euro style"? As in "Try new Goop™ hair gel with genuine euro style and hold!"
Is it supposed to mean something like "neo-European"? Or is it an abbreviated form of "European"? And if so, then shouldn't it be capitalized?
Or what?
Confused but inquisitive,
sylvie
[Edited at 2006-03-10 18:28]
| | | | #41698 (LSF)
Malaysia
Local time: 02:27
Japanese to English
+ ...
| German style | Mar 10, 2006 |
sylvie malich wrote:
Is it supposed to mean something like "neo-European"? Or is it an abbreviated form of "European"? And if so, then shouldn't it be capitalized?
Confused but inquisitive,
sylvie
[Edited at 2006-03-10 13:43]
If there are more Germans around the world, one of these days we would probably see sentences such as "A Man and his Cat" or "My big fat Dictionary".  )
"euro" for currency but "Euro" for region.
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