把十元的票子破开

把十元的票子破开: To break a ten-yuan note

The phrase in the title is from the Nciku dictionary in my iPhone. I used it this way the other day and got a laugh in return! My firend (from Hong Kong) claimed you can't say it that way; it sounds like you're cutting the bill into pieces. Asking some more people (from Foshan), I got pretty much the same reply, but some suggested since it's in the dictionary, it might be a northern expression.

So my question is: does anyone use this word in this way, or is Nciku off the mark here?