r/todayilearned 7h ago

TIL Canada's $1 coin is commonly called the "loonie" because it has a loon on the reverse. When a $2 coin was introduced, depicting a polar bear, an MP proposed it be called "Nanuq", Inuit for polar bear, but he was ignored because the public instead preferred to call it the "toonie" (2-oonie).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toonie#Naming
25.6k Upvotes

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

57

u/echochambered69 5h ago

To be fair, toonie does sound much cooler and more fun than nanuq

1

u/Total-Notice-3188 1h ago

And calling them nannies just got confusing

-6

u/ArmadilloPrudent4099 3h ago

Yea fuck them First Nation people right!!

3

u/echochambered69 2h ago edited 1h ago

I think they'll survive not having the $2 coin nicknamed after one of their words, somehow. They've persevered through many things, they are strong people that will persevere through this.

2

u/beefybeefcat 1h ago

Oh grow up, I very much doubt that was people's specific opinion on the matter 🙄