Long before the GBP (Great Britain Pound) was considered to be the dominant currency of the world.  The information about the exchange rate for the GBP was transmitted back and forth between North American and Europe through the transatlantic cables, therefore many years later the nick name cable persisted to refer to “GBP” or “GBP exchange rates.”

Forex brokers are also nick named as Cable dealers.

Traders love to use these kinds of slang words in their communication about Forex and it would be better for investors to learn other nick names similar to cable so that they will not find it difficult to understand what the traders mean by the various terms they use to indicate different currencies.