A THOUSAND LIZARDS
Can anyone explain why Bulgarian has an equivalent for “buck”, i.e. “dollar”? For the benefit of beginning students, “buck” in Bulgarian is “гущер”, which means “lizard”. “A thousand bucks” is “хиляда гущера” (a thousand lizards). Another intriguing question is why “buck” (a mammal, actually a male deer) is rendered as “гущер” (a reptile)?

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I am not sure if I really understand your question, but I think your question is reffering more to the origin of the English word.Bulgarians are translating the words as they are in English, I mean..people in general use "bucks" for "dollars" (if you are interested in the origin of that http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/03/dollar-called-buck/) that`s why we use it in the same way. I don`t know where you`ve heard "buck" as "гущер", but actually is not so commonly used,however- it`s called "lizard", because of the green color of the dollar,it`s not connected with the animal "buck" in English. We have other slang words for money but not specifically dollars (or at least I can`t remember now :D ) - "пачка", "кинти", "мангизи".. and others

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