Drop a dime

Posted by ESC on December 02, 2002

In Reply to: Two phrases posted by JGF on November 30, 2002

: I'm looking for the origin of these phrases:

: Drop a dime on me (to tell on someone)

: Stepped off the carpet (died)

Calls from a payphone used to be a dime -- 10 cents.

DROP A DIME - Especially underworld. "to place a telephone call; (specif.) to inform on someone by making a phone call to police." There are several citations for the 1960s. Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994.