Currency Pair Nicknames

Currency pair nicknames are the informal names dealers use instead of three-letter codes. Some describe the currency itself: the Australian dollar is the aussie, the New Zealand dollar the kiwi after the bird on its coin, the Canadian dollar the loonie after the loon on its one-dollar piece, and the Swiss franc the swissy. Others name a pair, such as cable for GBP/USD, fiber for EUR/USD and gopher for USD/JPY. The slang is a shorthand from telephone dealing, where speed and clarity mattered, and it survives in broker commentary, news headlines and chat rooms. Knowing the vocabulary makes market commentary easier to follow, but the nicknames carry no technical meaning beyond identifying the instrument.