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He did it at the drop of a dime

Posted: July 30, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: ACTION, THINGS | Tags: , , , , , , |4 Comments

Pretty straightforward malaphor?  Seems like a combination of “do at the drop of a hat” and “he dropped the dime”.   Very different meanings, but the word “drop” apparently led the speaker to think “dime” instead of “hat” (alliteration perhaps?) and thus another  malaphor was born.

4 Comments on “He did it at the drop of a dime”

  1. Xavier Lesaffre's avatar Xavier Lesaffre says:
    July 30, 2012 at 4:03 am

    Hello,
    I like your posts on malaphors!!!
    However I think I would need a brief explanation of the two metaphors which are mixed up. Would it be possible to do that for people like me who are not native English speakers? Of course I realize that it wikk take you more time to do that.
    Regards.
    Xavier Lesaffre

    Reply
    • davemalaphor's avatar davemalaphor says:
      July 30, 2012 at 5:15 pm

      I am glad you are enjoying the malaphors, Xavier. I will try and explain the idioms/metaphors that are blended. I did that in today’s malaphor (roll up your elbows).

      Reply
  2. Jonny Pee (@Quacky)'s avatar Jonny Pee (@Quacky) says:
    March 31, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    Prominent young physician once prescribed opioids “at the drop of a dime: http://www.npr.org/2016/03/31/472501001/doctors-grapple-with-when-to-prescribe-opioids-for-pain

    Reply

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