Money In Idioms, or This Quiz Is a Dime a Dozen

Answer: Something is inexpensive, abundant or easily acquired

A dime is a United States coin valued at ten cents, or 1/10 of a dollar. Therefore something that sells for a dime a dozen is, by definition, cheap and inexpensive. By extension it has come to mean anything that has little value, monetary or otherwise.

For example, if someone has broken up with his girlfriend, you might comfort him by saying, "Forget about her. Girls like her are a dime a dozen."

Answer: You want to state your opinion

A person who is putting in his two cents worth is stating his opinion. The implication is usually that the opinion is unsupported and may not be worth much. For example, one might say, "I don't think the Yankees have a chance at winning the pennant this year, but that's just my two cents worth." You might also hear, "That's just my two cents; you can believe what you like."

Answer: Not worth a plugged nickel

If something is not worth a plugged (or plug) nickel, it is worthless indeed. A nickel is a United States coin worth five cents. In olden times, many coins were made of gold and silver. Unscrupulous people would sometimes punch a hole in a coin, removing some of the precious metal, and plug the hole with a cheaper metal that had a similar appearance.

Naturally, these plugged coins were greatly reduced in value and undesirable. But nickels did not contain any precious metal, and no one went around punching holes in them and plugging them up, despite what almost every site on the internet says.

The United States Mint offers a much more believable origin for this phrase. In the Old West, cowboys would often demonstrate their marksmanship by shooting a hole in a nickel, a very small target indeed. Once a nickel had a hole shot through it, it was valueless and could not be spent. Plugged was a synonym for shot, so a plugged nickel was one that had a hole shot through it.

Answer: Three dollar

The phrase "as phony as a three dollar bill" can be used to apply to both objects and people. For example, if someone was wearing s counterfeit wristwatch, you could say, "Jim's new Rolex is as phony as a three dollar bill," meaning that it was fake or bogus.

It can also be applied to people to indicate that they are insincere or hypocritical. "Sally seems like a nice girl, but she's as phony as a three dollar bill." Three dollar bills have been issued by state and privately owned banks, but never by the U.S. Treasury, so if someone tries to spend one, it is immediately apparent that it is a fake.

The United States did issue three dollar gold coins, however.

Answer: Penny wise, pound foolish

Penny wise, pound foolish is one of those idioms that have been around since Colonial times, when the British pound was the currency used in what would one day become the United States. There were 240 pennies in a pound. A person who who is penny wise, pound foolish skimps on small purchases, but spends a lot on large ones.

For example, a person might buy an outfit at a thrift store for $2, and then purchase a $500 pair of shoes to go with it. There is often an implication that stinginess in small things will eventually lead to large and unnecessary expenditures later; for example, a person who is penny wise, pound foolish might try to save a few dollars by purchasing an inexpensive used car from an unscrupulous dealer, and end up spending a fortune in repair costs to keep it running.

Answer: True

When you are willing to bet dollars to donuts, you are certain, or nearly certain, of the outcome. An earlier version of this idiom was dollars to buttons. The sense is that you are willing to risk something of great value against something of little value because you are extremely confident. This is an idiom that may soon die out - have you checked the price of donuts lately?

Answer: Too little, too late

The basic meaning behind "a day late and a dollar short," is an action that is both too late to be effective, and would have been inadequate even if it had been done on time. For example, if you are playing a timed quiz and trying to win a badge on FunTrivia, and you get a score of nine correct in 30 seconds, and the winner gets ten correct in 28 seconds, you might be said to be a day late and a dollar short.

It happens to me a lot.

Answer: 25 cents

In the early days of the United States, the federal government was unable to produce enough coins to meet the demands of commerce, so Spanish and Mexican coins were used, and remained legal tender until 1857. The most popular coin was the Spanish milled dollar, or "piece of eight." In order to make change, these coins were often cut into eight pieces, each piece being called a bit, and worth 12 1/2 cents. So two bits equaled 25 cents, or a quarter of a dollar.

Answer: No

Being "nickeled and dimed" means being charged numerous small amounts that eventually add up to a considerable expense. The phrase is often heard as "nickeled and dimed to death." For example, suppose you get what seems to be a good deal on airfare to your favorite vacation spot.

The basic ticket cost may be low, but then you discover you have to pay extra for your carry-on luggage, snacks, a pillow, in-flight movie, etc. You might then complain that the airline is "nickel and diming" you, or that you are being "nickeled and dimed to death" because of the many small additional charges.

Answer: Absolutely certain of the outcome

The term "bet your bottom dollar" comes from gambling. Players would stack their coins or chips, and if you bet your bottom dollar, it meant you were wagering your entire stack, or, in modern parlance, going all in. You can hear this idiom in the popular song, "Tomorrow", from the musical "Annie". "The sun'll come out tomorrow / Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun."