What it means
A loonie is Canada’s one-dollar coin. It got that nickname from the loon printed on it, and pretty much everybody in Canada knows it by that name. You’ll hear it in everyday money chat when someone’s paying cash, digging for change, or talking small amounts. It’s basic Canadian pocket-jingle vocabulary.
Usage examples
"I’ve only got a loonie and a couple quarters, eh. That should cover the Timmy’s tip, but the meter wants two bucks, bud."
"I've only got a loonie on me, that won't even cover the parking meter."
"Toss a loonie in the busker's case, she's been playing all afternoon."
"You got a loonie for the cart, or are we doing the parking-lot pocket shuffle again?"
"Coffee was $1.75 back then. Felt like you could still do damage with a loonie and some coins."
Where it comes from
The name comes straight from the loon on the reverse of Canada’s one-dollar coin. When the coin replaced the one-dollar bill in 1987, people started calling it the loonie and the nickname stuck fast. It caught on so hard that the two-dollar coin later got nicknamed the toonie by rhyme.
This expression also appears in
