put a nickel in someone
v. phr.— «Hello, Lon, is the Missus inside? Lon smokes on, without looking at the questioner. Look here, I put a nickel in you, you blame rusty old slot-machine. Push out something!» —by William Vaughn Moody The Great Divide (New York) , 1906. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude...
Asthenosphere, a geologist’s term for the molten layer beneath the earth’s crust, sparks a journey that stretches all the way from ancient Greece to the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus: What the heck is a dogberg? It’s when...