"five & dime"

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on January 03, 2007

In Reply to: "Five & dime" posted by Scottamus on January 03, 2007

: Hi,

: I couldn't find the phrase "five & dime" store in your list.
: My understanding is the term refers to stores adopting a strategy of giving back a nickel and or dime in change to make the customer feel like he is getting extra money in return.

: Also couldn't find "nickel and dime"ing someone.

No, the term "five & dime" refers to the selling price of typical merchandise in that type of store. Even back in the old days, five or ten cents wasn't a lot of money, but there were a lot of useful things you could buy for that amount.

My mother and grandmother always called it the "five and ten", so "five and dime" has always sounded odd to me.

I often refer to my cars with the term "nickel and dime". I'll get rid of my '95 Saturn when it starts "nickel and diming" me, or in other words, when it starts needing a repair every month or two.

• "Five & dime" Bob 03/January/07
  • "Five & dime" Smokey Stover 03/January/07
    • "Five & dime" pamela 04/January/07
      • "Five & dime" Smokey Stover 04/January/07
        • "Five & dime" RRC 04/January/07