# "A buck three-eighty" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 1999, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619 "1999-04-07T23:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 1999, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/1 "1999-04-08T05:19:00Z")
This must be an East Coast thing, because I’ve never heard it out here on the Pacific. I was first exposed to the phrase “a buck three-eighty” in Billy Joel’s song “Close to the Borderline” from the “Glass Houses” album, and I wondered what it meant. The exact lines are: _A buck three-eighty won’t buy you much lately On the street these days And when you can get gas you know you can’t drive fast Any more on the parkways_ Since then, I’ve seen or heard strange monetary expressions like that in the context of mid-to-north-Atlantic Coast urbanites, and I’ve never understood what it’s supposed to mean. Is it a transposition of the first two words, i.e. “buck three” means “three bucks,” so the whole phrase means $3.80? Or is the “eighty” an expression, and it really means $1.38? Or does it mean something else entirely? Where did it come from? Is it still commonly used? Is there a Noo Yawker or anyone else who can enlighten me? * * * _“I’m not an actor, but I play one on TV.”_ ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 1999, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/2 "1999-04-07T23:05:00Z")
Of course my guess is as good as yours…but I took the phrase “a buck three-eighty” to mean $1.83. Perhaps? * * * ~_brandie_~ “Free thinkers are dangerous.”~Serj ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 1999, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/3 "1999-04-08T00:46:00Z")
I’ve always heard the phrase “a buck-two-fifty” and I just assumed it meant a small amount of money. How much did that cost? Ah, a buck-two-fifty. I could be totally wrong, though. Jeff ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 1999, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/4 "1999-04-08T02:11:00Z")
## I don’t know that it means any specific amount. It’s just a phrase that means an indeterminate amount of money. A lot of New Yorkers use it, I think, when they don’t know an amount and don’t wanna be bothered. Seeing it in writing is not the same as having someone with a thick Bronx accent brush you off with “a buck three-eighty, pal.” The Dave-Guy “since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go in up to her knees?” J.H. Marx ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 1999, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/5 "1999-04-08T02:24:00Z")
## Oh wow! I didn’t know anyone else used that expression! My Dad (born and raised in NE Mass.) has been saying “A dollar three-eighty” for as long as I can remember and he claims he made it up. Or a friend of his made it up. Or maybe it was a friend of a friend… Hmmmmmm… “For what a man had rather were true, he more readily believes” - Francis Bacon ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 1999, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/6 "1999-04-08T05:54:00Z")
Well, I imagine it’s not _strictly_ an East Coast thing, as my father says “a buck three eighty-five” and he grew up in Wisconsin. And at least one of my uncles (one of his brothers) uses it also. Perhaps it means a buck plus $3.85 (or whatever variation is used)? Or perhaps $1.385, using fractions of a cent–and thus a buck three eighty would be $1.380 and a buck two fifty would be $1.250. * * * nuqDaq yuch Dapol? (Where do you keep the chocolate?) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 1999, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/7 "1999-04-08T16:24:00Z")
My friends and I have used variations on this before … “A buck, two fifty” … to describe a niddling amount of money. As far as I’m aware, it’s two separate amounts (One dollar and two-and-a-half dollars) that indicate not only a miniscule and irrelevant amount of money, but the fact that the expense didn’t matter much to you. So, like “It cost a buck, or two-fifty, or something. Whatever.” I didn’t even make the connection between “buck three eighty” and “buck two fifty” until MilroyJ mentioned it. This thread had me baffled 'til then 🙂 * * * -An epistle most prosaic, courtesy of _Calamity Jon_. Jon can be seen swinging from trees at [ape-law.com](http://ape-law.com) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 1999, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/8 "1999-04-08T20:17:00Z")
I once saw the term in a book of brain-teasers. It was a semantics trick, where “a buck two-fifty” actually meant “a buck, AND two-fifty.” That is, $3.50. This was similar to the number “eleven thousand, eleven hundred, and eleven.” Which is written 11,211. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 1999, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/9 "1999-04-10T01:56:00Z")
Uh, Eleven thousand, eleven hundred, and eleven would be 12,111, not 11,211. Am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 1999, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/10 "1999-04-12T02:48:00Z")
I just had to get in on this one… In the Red River Valley (where Fargo is found), the phrase is known as “a buck two-ninety-eight.” Obviously, we can conclude that Fargo prices are much lower than in Billy Joel’s neighborhood. * * * “Write a wise saying and your name will live forever.” - Anonymous ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/11 "1999-11-06T02:20:00Z")
Old Chicago area expression “a buck two ninety eight” ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/12 "1999-11-06T03:15:00Z")
Chicago. High school. Mid-'70s. “A buck-three-eighty” was commonplace. As others have noted, it’s basically a brush-off, meaning “I dunno, a small amount, what’s it to ya?” As teenagers, we considered it the height of wit. As adults, we consider it the height of teenage wit. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/13 "1999-11-06T05:42:00Z")
I’ve never heard “a buck three-eighty.” Around here, we use “a nickel ninety-five” to mean the same thing, a small amount of money. -Melin ---
**Author:** ![AuraSeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AuraSeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuraSeer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/14 "1999-11-06T05:43:00Z")
My math was right; I just made a typo. So sue me. =B^p ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Sheepshead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@Mr.Sheepshead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Sheepshead)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/15 "1999-11-08T06:46:00Z")
I’ve always used it as in “I have no clue how much but you can afford it.” And I’ve heard (in Wisconsin) a buck two-thirty and a buck two-fifty. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/16 "1999-11-08T14:11:00Z")
Like MarkMal, I’ve only heard the expression from my dad and it was always a **dollar** three eighty. He used it when I was a kid and he didn’t want to say how much something cost. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/17 "1999-11-08T15:31:00Z")
Just to give in my 2¢ (or 4 half-cents–hmm, forshadowing), up until the mid 1800’s there was a coint the half-cent. So, if this is an old expression, it could have its roots in a time when three-decimal prices were commonplace. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 1999, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/18 "1999-11-08T15:33:00Z")
And this is what it looks like when it has been proofread: Just to give in my 2¢ (or 4 half-cents–hmm, foreshadowing), up until the mid 1800’s there was a coin the half-cent. So, if this is an old expression, it could have its roots in a time when three-decimal prices were commonplace. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 1999, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/19 "1999-11-10T08:26:00Z")
Argh. It’s just sophomoric wit. Like calling someone and asking for their phone number. It’s just a verbal equivalent of an Escher drawing. It begins one way, but ends in a contradictory way, but overall, looks like it’s supposed to go together. The purpose is to confuse people, and I can see by this thread, it has worked. 🙂 If Billy Joel is using it in some other fashion like it has a special meaning, he’s a twit (besides, he’s run out of originality long, long, long ago – uptown girl, indeed!). Peace. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 1999, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619/20 "1999-11-10T15:10:00Z")
Thats what a grown deer(buck) weighs. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-buck-three-eighty/4619.md?page=2)