Too Much Sugar

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, this is Patricia Blackshear. I’m calling from Frankston, Texas.

Well, hi, Patricia. Welcome to the program.

Hey there.

Well, I have a question. I have a saying that I’ve only ever heard my mother use. I now use it regularly, as does my husband, and it is too much sugar for a dime.

And what are the circumstances? Where would you use this? Are you in the grocery store? Is it something at home?

It applies to any number of circumstances. The best I can figure is it basically means something that is too much effort for the result, too much hassle.

So if I say, let’s make a suggestion or something, my mother will say, well, that’s too much sugar for a dime, and nix the suggestion, whatever it may be.

So it would be not worth the hassle, that kind of thing?

Yes, exactly, exactly.

That’s very interesting because I have heard this several times, and it either means that, too much of a hassle, or just a little too unbelievable.

Yeah.

Is the other way. Have you heard it that way, too?

She uses them. My mother uses them interchangeably.

Interesting. Something that’s sort of too good to be true.

-huh.

I don’t quite believe it.

-huh.

So it’s very interchangeable. It took me a while to figure out the nuance between those two things.

Right, right. Too good to be true or more trouble than it’s worth, right?

Too much sugar for a dime.

Yeah.

Yeah, there is an old Merle Travis song from the 50s by that name.

Really?

Yeah.

Yeah, we should link to that on our website.

If we can find the original. Do you know the song? Can you sing it?

No, but I can show you the YouTube clip with Merle Travis singing it.

Very nice. And in that case, it’s more of the skeptical one, more of the, oh, you’ve got to be kidding. That’s too much sugar for a dime.

I found. And I found one person compared it to cotton candy, where they take a penny’s worth of sugar and they spin it up so that it’s all fluffed up and mostly air, and then they sell it for a dime.

So you have the impression that you’re getting this big wad of candy, but really when you compress it down, it’s a tiny little cube of sugar. And I thought that was a great, I don’t know if that’s the source of it, but I thought it was a great way to try to explain it.

Yeah.

Wow, very interesting. I have never heard anyone else use it.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

It’s out there. It definitely has a southern inflection. Not the kind of thing you’re going to hear in the New England, probably.

And it’s got a little bit of history behind it, so it’s not new. Nothing that came up in the television generation, that’s for sure.

Very interesting. Well, maybe I will start using it outside of my own home then.

Oh, yeah. It’s legitimate and not something my mother made up.

I think that’s safe enough.

Yeah, you don’t have to be closeted about it.

I was going to say, I hear language that’s not appropriate outside the home, outside the home all the time.

Don’t we all?

Hey, Patricia, thank you so much for calling. I love this expression.

Thank you all.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I love your show. Keep up the good work.

Oh, of course. Thank you.

Bye-bye.

That’s too much sugar for a dime. You’re always handing me a line. That happens in the best convertible. Always brag about all you got, a swimming pool and a fancy yacht.

I’ll bet you don’t know nothing about a boat. They float.

Call us with your language questions. 877-929-9673.

And drop by our Facebook page. You’ll find us there under Wayword Radio.

And you can email us words@waywordradio.org.