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'.
