Yankee dime
n.— «If you’ll do me this favor in double quick time,/You shall have my best wishes and a Yankee dime.» —Huron Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) Jan. 13, 1846. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Matt from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was puzzled when colleagues kept saying someone had stood up at a wedding, indicating that they’d been a member of the wedding party. The expression stood up in that sense is an Americanism going back about two...
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...