[PW] A dime a dozen

[Hatch, Patricia]

Hello,

This is the listing from the Oxford English Dictionary:

. Phr. a dime a dozen, so plentiful as to be almost worthless. Also
dime-a-dozen attrib. phr. N. Amer. colloq. 

1930 C. TERRETT Only Saps Work 188 These are mere dime-a-dozen rackets,
compared with the truly big-time stock market swindles. 1948 Galveston
(Texas) News 14 June 7/7 Sunday night at the cocktail party and buffet
supper, choice fishing stories were a dime a dozen. 1970 M. PEI Words in
Sheep's Clothing ii. 12 Coinages of the type of 'power-pak' are a dime a
dozen. 1977 I. SHAW Beggarman, Thief III. ix. 328 'I thought you were
too good looking just to be nobody.' 'A dime a dozen,' Wesley said. 'I'm
just a seaman at heart.' 

A casual search of the Internet lists a few sites that give the 1930
date as the origin, so I am assuming that these sites are referring to
the Turrett Work.

Hope this helps,


Patty Hatch
Harvard University-CWD/FSS
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 496-3242
Email: patricia_hatch at harvard.edu
 
 

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Subject: [PW] A dime a dozen


When the phrase "a dime a dozen" was first constructed, what did it
refer to? 
I've seen construction nails listed as the commodity, but the online
writer had his nail sizes all mixed up, so I'm not comfortable with his
credibility.

Specific citations would be greatly appreciated.

________________________
Michael J. Sheehan
The Senior Corner, TADL
http://seniors.tcnet.org

Blog: http://verbmall.blogspot.com/
___________________________



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