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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
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perhaps etymonline will have a feeling for it: dime chosen 1786 as name for U.S. 10 cent coin, from dime "a tenth, tithe" (1377), from O.Fr. disme, from L. decima (pars) "tenth (part)," from decem "ten." The verb meaning "to inform" (on someone) is 1960s, from the then-cost of a pay phone call. A dime a dozen "almost worthless" first recorded 1930. Phrase stop on a dime attested by 1954. never heard of the "inform" thing. huh. Guess you must be too young, huh? Neither have I, though I am familiar with the other uses from old American movies. In Australia and NZ the equivalent of 'dime, vb. to inform on someone' is the word 'dob' which is probably from cockney slang I think. To 'dob someone in' or 'dob on someone' is to tell on them or inform on them. The person doing this is known as a 'dobber,' which has a pejorative connotation similar to the word 'scab' and results in a similar treatment by those 'dobbed on'.
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enthusiast
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OP
enthusiast
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Ooh, ooh--where was the pav invented? [poking the borax e] If you believe wikipedia, the recipe was first written in New Zealand. Of course, that doesn't mean it was invented in New Zealand, just that they could write before Australians, which everybody probably already knew.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
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perhaps etymonline will have a feeling for it: dime chosen 1786 as name for U.S. 10 cent coin, from dime "a tenth, tithe" (1377), from O.Fr. disme, from L. decima (pars) "tenth (part)," from decem "ten." The verb meaning "to inform" (on someone) is 1960s, from the then-cost of a pay phone call. A dime a dozen "almost worthless" first recorded 1930. Phrase stop on a dime attested by 1954. never heard of the "inform" thing. huh. Guess you must be too young, huh? Neither have I, though I am familiar with the other uses from old American movies. hmm, well, I did watch a lot of Mannix and Hawaii 5-0, but don't remember "dime"...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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dime
The verb meaning "to inform" (on someone) is 1960s, from the then-cost of a pay phone call.
I have heard of to drop a dime meaning to inform on somebody, to snitch, to grass, to nark, but not to dime.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Feb 2008
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
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Ooh, ooh--where was the pav invented? [poking the borax e] If you believe wikipedia, the recipe was first written in New Zealand. Of course, that doesn't mean it was invented in New Zealand, just that they could write before Australians, which everybody probably already knew. Who cares? I can't stand pavlova anyway. I like the fruit (ironically usually kiwi fruit) on the top of it but I hate the meringue.
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