Quick links
deuce
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
n. — historical, informal, slang
a two-dollar bank note.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — The two-dollar bill was replaced in 1996 by the toonie, the two-dollar coin. Deuce originates with the French for 'two,' deux, and has been used in English since the 16th century in dice and card games; until at least the late 19th-century, a two-pence coin in the UK was informally called a deuce (OED-3, s.v. "deuce", (n1(4)). The Canadian meaning might have been transferred to the Canadian context and may have elements of a Preservation (Type 2), besides the more general qualities of a Semantic Change (Type 3).
See also COD-2, s.v. "deuce" (4a), which is marked "Cdn hist.".
See also COD-2, s.v. "deuce" (4a), which is marked "Cdn hist.".
See: toonie
Quotations
1955
A SHORT year ago a wagering man could get fairly high odds had he preferred to risk a deuce or two against the possibility of any mermaid or merman cracking the swimming barrier of cold and tricky Lake Ontario.
1967
There was a time, not long ago, when even a deuce was considered to be quite important folding money in most circles.
1978
A week later she was ready to go again, and Perry entered her in another race, again for $8,000 but this time against other fillies and mares. Her backers collected about $12.00 for every deuce wagered.
1984
In this Disneyland with a difference, you won't find Mickey or Minny, with her endearingly oversized pumps, but a dead mouse, its grey, withered corpse laid to rest on cash, with a deuce for a blanket and a five-dollar bill to cushion its lifeless head.
1990
With the death of the $1 bill last year, replaced by the new loonie coin, the deuce is once again changing hands in the Saskatchewan city of Moose Jaw and throughout the Prairies.
1996
The era ends Feb. 19 when the Royal Canadian Mint introduces its much heralded two-dollar coin, ringing the death knell for the deuce note.
References
- COD-2
Images
