Thursday 19 January 2017

Word of the Day - Hundge

Our currency has always attracted friendly nicknames, but this nickname for the $100 note is new to me. It was the heading in an article in Crikey, by Liam Apter. The article included an interview with Swinburne’s Professor Steve Worthington. The idea is apparently being floated that the $100 note be withdrawn because of its use in the black economy, amongst criminals, and to transport large sums of cash.
Crikey | 16 December 2016
Adjunct Professor Steve Worthington comments on why the Australian government has proposed to remove the $100 note from circulation.
 

There are common nicknames for our currency, such as the well-known terms lobster (the $20 note) and pineapple (the $50). But I have never heard of a hundge, and I thought that Crikey may have invented it.
However, the Urban Dictionary defines the term as meaning a $100 note in US usage and gives the alternative spelling hunge. There is no example of use in Australia, other than the Crikey article; the Wikpedia article on slang terms for Australian money doesn’t mention it.
Notes of this denomination represent almost half of the value of all Australian banknotes, but how often do you see one? ATMs do not usually issue them. Their rarity in actual use makes it less likely that an affectionate slang term would arise, but perhaps I move in the wrong circles.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think the Australian colloquialism for the hundred dollar note might be 'hundy'?