Get off the Dime
John Perkins
he really got us off the dime and focused on the work...or
wow, when we finally got off the dime it wasnt that hard.
Thanks,
John
Daniel P. B. Smith
<newroot...@wolfenet.com> wrote:
Good question. I don't know the answer. In our barbershop chorus, we
had a director that occasionally told us to "squeeze the dime." _This_
phrase meant: to clench your buttocks as if trying to hold a dime there
without letting it drop. This makes me suspect that there is some
vulgar connotation of the word "dime" (i.e. "get off the dime" = "get
off your ass"), but I can't prove it.
Wentworth and Flexner's Dictionary of American Slang has the entry
"dime, get off the: to stop loafing; to stop wasting time. Lit. = "to
stop standing in one spot." Not common." No indication of origin.
And why would "dime" mean "standing in one spot?" Presumably the same
usage as "stop on a dime," but... I sure have the feeling that the word
"dime" in all these expression means something other than "ten-cent
coin."
--
Daniel P. B. Smith
current email address: dpbs...@bellatlantic.net
"Lifetime forwarding address:" dpbs...@alum.mit.edu
The Sanity Inspector
this thought:
>And why would "dime" mean "standing in one spot?" Presumably the same
>usage as "stop on a dime," but... I sure have the feeling that the word
>"dime" in all these expression means something other than "ten-cent
>coin."
It may be an inversion of a familiar phrase, like "butt in"
gave rise to "butt out".
--
bruce
The dignified don't even enter in the game.
--The Jam
Michael J Conover
>I sure have the feeling that the word "dime" in all these
> expression means something other than "ten-cent coin."
"Get off the dime" sounds to me like an anti-welfare sentiment, as in "Get
off the public dime." This fits well with the "get off your ass"
interpretation.
"Squeeze the dime" sounds the same as "keep a stiff upper lip." It's
something that's hard to do, so one must concentrate.
Neither has anything to do with an actual dime, and I doubt that they're
related.
---Michael
David Milsted
a mother's advice to a daughter to fend off men who only wanted
one thing?
DM
Jo Ann Malina
Never heard it before. Could it be a ha'penny was bus fare home?
--
Jo Ann Malina, make spamthis best to find my address
As I grow older and older/And totter towards the tomb,
I find that I care less and less/Who goes to bed with whom.
-- Dorothy L. Sayers
The Sanity Inspector
thought:
>Related question: why should 'Keep your hand on your ha'penny' be
>a mother's advice to a daughter to fend off men who only wanted
>one thing?
Sounds like it means, "Keep your hands in your pockets."
Daniel P. B. Smith
chollanam...@mindspring.com wrote:
> "David Milsted" <david....@virgin.net> shared with usenet this
> thought:
>
> >Related question: why should 'Keep your hand on your ha'penny' be
> >a mother's advice to a daughter to fend off men who only wanted
> >one thing?
>
> Sounds like it means, "Keep your hands in your pockets."
I'm guessing it was an anatomical reference. (But my wife says I tend
to sexualize everything...)
Lemming
<dpbs...@bellatlantic.net> wrote:
>In article <386e2a5...@news.mindspring.com>,
>chollanam...@mindspring.com wrote:
>
>> "David Milsted" <david....@virgin.net> shared with usenet this
>> thought:
>>
>> >Related question: why should 'Keep your hand on your ha'penny' be
>> >a mother's advice to a daughter to fend off men who only wanted
>> >one thing?
>>
>> Sounds like it means, "Keep your hands in your pockets."
>
>I'm guessing it was an anatomical reference. (But my wife says I tend
>to sexualize everything...)
That's the way I always understood it too, although perhaps
"understood" is too strong a word :)
Regards.
Derek Sorensen
--
Curiosity *may* have killed Schrodinger's cat.
David Milsted
"understood" is too strong a word :)>>
Well, yes, I suppose it does just refer to small, round, er,
thingy.
DM
Sondra London
>
> Anyone know where this phrase originated? It often is used like this
>
> he really got us off the dime and focused on the work...or
>
> wow, when we finally got off the dime it wasnt that hard.
>
>
> John
Following this thread, I see nobody has yet come up with any etymology
for this phrase. Which raises the next question: how about the phrase
"dropped the dime" - prison slang for snitching? Can anyone explain how
this phrase evolved?
--
Sondra London
http://www.sondralondon.com
The Hobgoblin of the Net
>
> Following this thread, I see nobody has yet come up with any etymology
> for this phrase. Which raises the next question: how about the phrase
> "dropped the dime" - prison slang for snitching? Can anyone explain how
> this phrase evolved?
Maybe from dropping a dime into the slot of a coin phone? Many tips
are phoned in.
-:-
"When you're on the phone you're nowhere."
--Ollie MacNoonan, "Where You
Are and Where Are You"
--
Col. G. L. Sicherman
home: col...@mail.monmouth.com
work: sich...@lucent.com
web: <http://www.monmouth.com/~colonel/>
Frank Lynch
> Anyone know where this phrase originated? It often is used like this
>
> he really got us off the dime and focused on the work...or
>
> wow, when we finally got off the dime it wasnt that hard.
Belatedly, I've looked up my Dictionary of American Slang (ed. by
Lighter).
Getting off the dime is, as mentioned by others, related to moving from
a stationary position, and Lighter connects is "especially to dancers in
a dancehall." The first reference is 1925... In Van Hechten, "Nigger
Heaven": "Sometimes a [dancing] couple ... would scarcely move from one
spot. Then the floor manager would cry, Git off dat dime!"
From the context, I'd guess that there is an implication not only of
being stationary, but confining oneself to minimal activity, that is,
the dime is our smallest coin, and its surface area is very limited. So
it's not just an issue of staying not getting anywhere, it's getting
NOWHERE.
RE "drop a dime": Col. G. L. Sicherman supposed it related to placing a
phone call, and this is Lighter's derivation, also. Earliest source is
1966, in the NY Post, as "dime dropper."
Anticipating others, Lighter also has "dime nickel" as a 105mm Howitzer,
first referenced in Del Vecchio's 1982 novel "The 13th Valley," which I
recall as being unreadably bad. I didn't finish it.
ObQuote:
"I have indeed, not read it all. But when I take up the end of a web,
and find it packthread, I do not expect, by looking further, to find
embroidery."
- Samuel Johnson (Boswell: Life of Johnson)
Frank Lynch
--
The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page is at:
http://www.samueljohnson.com/
Frank Bohan
> > a mother's advice to a daughter to fend off men who only wanted
> > one thing?
I seem to remember this as a bawdy music-hall (vaudeville) song, but I
haven't traced it yet.
From Glasgow, Scotland, I found at:
http://dcwi.com/~zarate/endear.htm
(the spell-checker will have a field-day)
Glesga Terms of Endearment
Stey away fae yon bad lassies/boays
Yer gie'n me a right showin' up
Save yer breath tae cool yer porrige
Keep yer haun oan yer ha'penny
Whit hiv a telt ye?
Cum up here right noo
D'ye hink ah don't know yer gemme?
Ah'll skite yer lug
Ah'll scud yer lugs if yae don't gie rat a by!
D'ye hink wur made o' money?
See youse yins !!!
Get tae yer bliddy bed!!!
This is yur last chance!!
Ah'll swing fur you
Ah'll tell yer da.
Whit?.. a note fae ra school nurse!
Yur no' bliddy gaun an' rats rat.
Ye'll poke sumbiddy's eye oot wi that!
===
And from an interesting site, worth a visit, at:
http://www.ubcnet.or.jp/jin/july97.html
(note - brackets are as found)
From Bangalore Report July 1997
When I first came to India, I was surprised to see that just about every
drawer, door or kitchen cupboard had a lock on it. I should think I have 20
or 30 keys just for my apartment. I bought a TV stand the other day with a
shelf for a VCR and storage space for cassettes, each with its own lock. It
is too much, shocking. But I suppose where there are thieves there are
locks. What can I say. Do people here need two keys just to watch a video in
their own home, I wonder. Anyway I have decided that two keys to living a
trouble free life here in India are [keep your hand on your Ha'penny] and
[always get a receipt]. Even so, while I was walking past the park on my way
to the office the other day, an old man with a child or grandchild
approached me as we were passing and cried out suddenly. [I have to get to
Bombay, but I don have any money....], well, I am not used to all that kind
of thing, so thinking it a plausible story, I handed the chap 50Rs from my
wallet instinctively. When I looked back, they had disappeared. Was it just
a ruse or was he really in dire straits? It might have been just a con
story. They might be strutting off to the local eatery with my money at that
very moment. Anyway, I had to give the chap credit, he had been pretty quick
off the mark with the tears and sob story as soon as he saw me. What a great
actor! He must have been looking out for a likely victim, and I was it. I
began to feel a little defeated. Hard to hold on to your money with chaps
like that after it. Come to think of it. I did it again a little later.
Don't get me wrong, it is not my habit to hand out money on the streets, but
there was this little girl. She was walking towards me along the MG Road
(busy shopping street)holding her little brother or sister by the hand.
Then, sure enough, she hit me with the old sob story and I duly handed her
some small trifle. The problem was that after that I just couldn't get away
from her. I thought I had given her the slip in a large store, but when I
went to leave, there she was waiting for me by the exit. In desperation I
took an auto and left the place like a fugitive. When it comes to hungry
people, I lose every time. What is a [nice person] like me supposed to do, I
just don't know how to handle it. How about you?
===
I'm still looking for the song lyrics
Frank B