This is American Slang? 2: The Dime-Drop

Date April 16, 2008

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In round 2 of a new fan favorite, “This is English Slang?” we assess the phrase “drop a dime.” At first site, I’d assume that the meaning was telling not to be so cheap, however after you read the context they use it in, you’ll see the authors had much different intentions.

Rose: “Don’t be such a stranger. Drop a dime sometime.”
Michael: “Okay, you too.”

In this context, we find that it means “call me.” It must refer to the cost of a phone call costing a dime or $.10. However, it would make better sense to me if the saying was “drop a quarter,” but I guess that doesn’t have the desired flow.

Given my definition of cheapskate-behavior, here’s my context:

Alfred: “I’ll just offer 50 RMB for that bike.”
Susie B: “Oh jeez. It’s worth more than that. Drop a dime sometime.”

You have a try.

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4 Responses to “This is American Slang? 2: The Dime-Drop”

  1. Dynah said:

    April 16th, 2008 at 11:05 pm

    I like yours better. It makes marginally more sense.

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  2. lee said:

    April 17th, 2008 at 5:18 am

    Mine makes plenty of sense.

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  3. katy said:

    April 17th, 2008 at 7:17 am

    i can’t wait to bring my slang to China.

  4. John Sullivan said:

    April 19th, 2008 at 5:17 am

    Dropping a dime also meant that you were a snitch when I was growing up in NYC
    Man that dude dropped a dime on you!
    Hey don’t mess with that dude he’s a dimedropper
    It also is a famous prison term ,that dudes a dimedropper etc

    and then you hear yelled out :snitches get stiches
    I love slang
    catch you on the flipside homeboy I got to bust a move:)

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