# What does "turn on a dime" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947 "2003-06-01T15:17:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ohlssonvox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/5daacb/32.png) [@ohlssonvox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ohlssonvox)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/1 "2003-06-01T15:17:13Z")
I come from a place that does not have “dimes” what does this mean? Where does it come from? ohlssonvox ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/2 "2003-06-01T15:21:44Z")
The dime is the smallest US coin (in size, not value), so to “turn (or stop) on a dime” implies that the vehicle in question is very nimble and can change direction very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/3 "2003-06-01T15:22:00Z")
AFAIK it means to turn around in a very limited space. If you’re driving a car and have to turn around in a very narrow street, you’ve “turned around on a dime.” A dime is a coin of ten cents. ---
**Author:** ![ohlssonvox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/5daacb/32.png) [@ohlssonvox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ohlssonvox)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/4 "2003-06-01T15:30:08Z")
thanks for the info, but is this not a rather strange phrase? Why not some other kind of small thing like "Turn on a rice’? or ‘turn on a tack’? Is there some chance that their is a reason for it being money? ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/5 "2003-06-01T15:31:42Z")
Well, why not? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/6 "2003-06-01T15:40:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ohlssonvox \* > \*\*Is there some chance that their is a reason for it being money? \*\* Not really … but there is a reason for it being a coin. A coin (in this case, a dime) represents a flat, small 2-dimensional surface – and a circular one, to boot. So the expression, if taken literally, asks the listener to exaggerate and imagine a vehicle riding on the surface of a dime, then being able to turn 180 degrees upon a dime, all without falling off the edge of the dime. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/7 "2003-06-01T15:51:01Z")
I often wear a dime on a chain around my neck. It is to remind me that even at my age, life can “turn on a dime.” Surprises, twists and turns still await me. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/8 "2003-06-01T15:56:26Z")
There is a related expression, to “stop on a dime”, sometimes expanded to “stop on a dime and give nine cents change.” (That’s a humorous intensifier. Since a dime is ten cents, giving nine cents change implies that you can stop in one-tenth the length of a dime.) The basic meaning is to stop in a very short space, an important point decades ago when brakes were not as good as they are today. I’m not sure whether turn or stop came first, but both came about because of the dime’s smallness and commonness. Other dime phrases are “not one thin dime” (never even a tiny amount) and “not a dime’s worth of difference” (so close together that not even a thin dime can be slipped between). ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/9 "2003-06-01T15:58:55Z")
In the late 1950s, American Motors actually used the image in their advertising for the Rambler, showing their two-seater turning from directly overhead with a dime super-imposed on the picture for the turning radius. (Of course, by that time the dime was “enlarged” to about 10 or 14 feet across, but they were tying the ad to the phrase without attempting to claim an actual 11/16 inch (17.46 mm) turning radius.) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/10 "2003-06-01T17:25:29Z")
There is a cite from 1881 which says > [@](#): > > The well trained horse “turns on a five-cent piece.” This would indicate the expression probably didn’t start life using a dime or automobiles. There is also a 1915 cite saying > [@](#): > > He could turn on a dime and give you back change. That cite is from a book? entitled _Git along Dogies_ , suggesting not autos but horses again. There is a 1929 cite about baseball in the NYT > [@](#): > > A fielder who fails to cover much ground is said to be “playing on a dime.” Not that it was asked, but the expresson **to get off (of) the dime** , meaning to take action rather than stand there , possibly originated in the 1920’s in cheap dance halls in the US, where you paid a dime to dance with a girl(taxi dancers). Quite often the girl and guy would stand there, not dancing much, but merely rubbing parts. The guy who was in charge of the club and wanted to keep things moving would cry “get off the dime.” I know that last one sounds made up, but it’s not. All cites from Jon Lighter, _Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang._ ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/11 "2003-06-01T18:04:35Z")
Apparently the phrases involving coins are a dime a dozen. [sub]OK, the joke is lame, but I couldn’t resist[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/12 "2003-06-01T18:20:15Z")
I’ve been searching for the first use of the British equivalent, which is “to turn on a sixpence”. The coin itself was first introduced in 1551 and finally disappeared in 1980. Various designs were minted but it was always small – the last one was 19mm in diameter. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/13 "2003-06-01T18:49:33Z")
I’m sure you just did a typo–the sixpence ended in 19 **70** , rather than 19 **80**. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/14 "2003-06-01T19:09:48Z")
Nope. Although decimalisation occurred in 1971, and the new coins started appearing in the late '60s, the sixpence carried on for several more years with a value of 2½ New Pence. We still say “to turn on a sixpence”, although kids have to ask what it means these days. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/15 "2003-06-01T21:45:17Z")
**everton**. I just had a conversation with a friend in Lincoln(England). He and I are both about 58, and have made our livings in the coin business for 25+ years. (me, for 35) His take on sixpences(and mine) is that, when the UK went to decimalization in 1970, the sixpence was not spendable in a store. Other denominations _were_, as they had a decimal equivalent. But sixpences weren’t. You could take them in quantitiy to a bank to exchange them, but they weren’t spendable at the local shop. I do realize that they were still a coin that was small and was perhaps used in phrases in the UK. My post was only to indicate that sixpences weren’t produced after 1970. They also, evidently, didn’t circulate after 1970. [sub]damn youngsters[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/16 "2003-06-01T22:53:58Z")
People in the coin business would certainly be a more reliable source than my own hazy recollection of spending my pocket money. [This is the source](http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/coins.html) I was was using for those dates, though, and he says: > [@](#): > > In advance of D-day [i.e. decimalisation day, 15th February 1971] the halfpenny and half-crown were withdrawn, and 5 new pence and 10 new pence coins were issued from 1968 to circulate alongside the existing shilling and florin coins… > > After D-day the penny and threepence coins rapidly disappeared from use. The sixpence continued in use as 2½ pence for about nine years. The new halfpenny went not long afterwards. However, the old shillings and florins continued alongside the 5p and 10p coins until a reduction in size in the early 1990’s resulted in their disappearance from circulation. That does accord with my own memory, and nine years seems an abnormal length of time to allow unspendable coins to be returned to the bank. They generally only give us a few months. I still haven’t found out when we first started saying “turn on a…” though. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/17 "2003-06-01T23:03:37Z")
I, also, searched the OED and other places for the “turn on a sixpence.” NOthing. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/18 "2003-06-02T13:45:36Z")
Look closely. If you see Roosevelt’s tongue protruding from his lips a little bit, the dime is turned on. Some even swear he smokes a cigarette afterward; I can’t confirm that. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/19 "2003-06-02T13:53:14Z")
My favorite expression describing good cornering capability: **This car turns like a Hoover upright.** ---
**Author:** ![DiLLiGaF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@DiLLiGaF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiLLiGaF)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-turn-on-a-dime-mean/178947/20 "2003-06-02T19:01:59Z")
I haven’t either, but all this talk of stopping on a dime reminds me of a true story that happened to a buddy of mine on his motorcycle. He was pulling up to the group of riders at their regular Saturday night hangout and pulled the front brake hard to do a ‘stoppy’ (where sportbike riders hit front brake hard enough to lift the rear wheel up in the air). Well he pulled the front brake hard right when his front tire was on top of a penny and it skidded instead of stopping. He piled right into a couple of the parked bikes and caused some significant damage to the bikes. Freak thing to hit that penny and skid.