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RE: EUR
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transl-@dewsbery.de
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Oct 02, 2003 05:05 PDT
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| | I'd like a second opinion please:
On a Web site (English-language, BE) you can win, say a car, worth 9,500
euros. Or would that be 9,500 euro?
I've just been told that the plural is wrong and I find that hard to
believe, since I would also say pounds.
Adriana Morris
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Hi Adriana,
Your innocent question drives a coach and horses through the EU language
policy.
Initially the linguacrats reigned supreme, so we read:
"According to the European Council conclusions reached in Madrid in December
1995, the single currency will be known as the 'euro'. The ISO code for the
euro is EUR.
The euro is divided into 100 cent. In English the terms 'euro' and 'cent'
are invariable (no plural 's')"
(Still there for your delight and astonishment at
http://eur-op.eu.int/code/en/en-370300.htm#i110
and in the PDF download style guide at
http://eur-op.eu.int/code/en/en-000300.htm )
The 2001 version of the EU Translation Service English Style Guide (which I
only have as a printout) tried to get out of the embarrassment by some
pretty nifty trick cycling:
"Guidelines on the use of the euro, issued via the Secretariat-General,
state that the plurals of both "euro" and "cent" are to be written without
"s" in English. Do this when amending or referring to legal texts that
themselves observe this rule. Elsewhere, and especially in documents
intended for the gneral public, use the natural plural with "s" for both
terms".
(What a backhander for the linguacrats!)
Now it seems that somebody has seen the light.
The current style guide of the translation service at
http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/writing/style_guides/english/frame_ind
ex_en.htm
(You may need to join the lines of this URL)
unashamedly uses "euros", without so much as a whisper of apology:
"Always use figures with units of measurement denoted by symbols or
abbreviations:
- EUR 50 or fifty euros"
"With hundreds, thousands, etc. there is a choice of using figures or words:
- 300 or three hundred but not 3 hundred
- EUR 3 000 or three thousand euros but not EUR 3 thousand"
"The following table shows the names and abbreviations/symbols for both
current and former currencies of the EU Member States and some other
countries.
Official name ISO 4217
euro, pl. euros EUR"
At the same time, however, this URL refers back to the URL I quoted first
(the one with the invariable plural).
Wondrous is the wisdom of our rulers ;--O}}}
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Victor Dewsbery, Berlin
www.dewsbery.de
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