Finding science and stories in unexpected places
The letter S appears nowhere in the word “dollar”, yet an S with a line through it ($) is unmistakably the dollar sign. But why an S? Why isn’t the dollar sign something like a Đ (like the former South Vietnamese đồng, or the totally-not-a-joke-currency Dogecoin)?
There’s a good story behind it, but here’s a big hint: the dollar sign isn’t a dollar sign.
It’s a peso sign.
In Poland, there’s an idiom that I’ve recently fallen in love with. Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy . . . literally, “not my circus, not my monkey;” figuratively, “not my problem.”
I guess monkeys are “problems” in Poland, and circuses are where “problems” come from. If it’s not your monkey, and it’s not even from your circus, then it’s not your problem.
(Not that I’d ever use this in a truly serious situation . . . but I’m betting there’ll be a few opportunities to call upon this idiom around the office.)