put a nickel in someone
v. phr.— «She has complained about inhumane and unesthetic working conditions (“It’s as if I were a machine and they just put a nickel in me”).» —“A Triumph Thank Goodness” by Tom Donnelly Washington Post Jan. 13, 1973. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1916, a small-town newspaper in Pennsylvania printed a fanciful item about a local gathering with a guest list that included, among others, Miss Ella Vader, Mr. Ray Zor, and other punny names. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Responding to our discussion about thin places, those spots where the boundary between this world and other realities seems narrow or permeable, a listener in Kirkland, Washington, sent us some eloquent thoughts about her own experiences of that...