[Ads-l] turn on a dime (1911), stop on a dime (1921)

[Peter Reitan]

Not antedating anything, but if a "jitney" was a nickel and later a bus, 
this 1915 headline and article about a Jitney seems kinda "meta."

"Jitney Turns Around on Dime - But for the ability of a jitney to turn 
around on a dime, a bad smash was narrowly avoided at the corner of 
Ninth avenue and Olive street yesterday about noon."

Eugene Morning Register (Oregon), December 26, 1915, page 3.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85003138/morning-register/

------ Original Message ------
From: "James Eric Lawson" <jel at nventure.com>
To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
Sent: 9/8/2021 9:11:17 PM
Subject: Re: turn on a dime (1911), stop on a dime (1921)

>---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       James Eric Lawson <jel at NVENTURE.COM>
>Subject:      Re: turn on a dime (1911), stop on a dime (1921)
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>An 'answer' at ELU,
>
>https://english.stackexchange.com/a/552273
>
>links to an example of 'turn on a dime' from 1893 (middle column, 2nd
>para from bottom),
>
>https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000060119063&view=1up&seq=502&size=125&q1=dime
>
>"a little chestnut that was quick as a flash and could turn on a dime"
>
>and an example of 'stop on a dime' from 1919,
>
>https://www.newspapers.com/image/93431219/?terms=%22stop%2Bon%2Ba%2Bdime%22
>
>"because you can stop on a dime with those brakes".
>
>On 9/8/21 1:47 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
>>  Here is another coin employed to measure turning radius in 1902.
>>
>>  Date: January 23, 1902
>>  Newspaper: The Burlington Free Press
>>  Newspaper Location: Burlington, Vermont
>>  Article: Hope Ahead For The Horse
>>  Author: Rene Bache
>>  Quote Page 2, Column 4
>>  Database: Newspapers.com
>>
>>  https://www.newspapers.com/image/197088662/?terms=ideal
>>
>>  [Begin excerpt]
>>  An ideal polo pony has "quarters like a cart-horse," and should have
>>  such control of himself as to be able to "turn on a dollar."
>>  [End excerpt]
>>
>>  Garson
>>
>>  On Wed, Sep 8, 2021 at 3:19 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>  The OED entry for "dime" hasn't been updated with the idiom "(turn/stop) on
>>>  a dime," though Oxford Dictionaries has it ("used to refer to a maneuver
>>>  that can be performed by a moving vehicle or person within a small area or
>>>  short distance").
>>>
>>>  HDAS has an earlier expression, "turn on a five-cent piece," from 1881. The
>>>  same quote appears in newspaper databases as early as Oct. 17, 1879,
>>>  excerpted from an article by A.A. Hayes, Jr. in the Nov. 1879 issue of
>>>  Harper's. ("Turn on a ten-cent piece" shows up starting in 1891.)
>>>
>>>  https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84969173/turns-on-a-five-cent-piece/
>>>
>>>  HDAS has "turn on a dime" from 1918 but doesn't have "stop on a dime."
>>>
>>>  * turn on a dime (1911)
>>>
>>>  ---
>>>  https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84966683/turn-on-a-dime/
>>>  Galveston (Texas) Daily News, Mar. 18, 1911, p. 3, col. 6
>>>  While the ship was being turned and docked her fast little steam launch
>>>  darted about doing its share of the task like something with human
>>>  Intelligence. It was a fast little craft and could almost turn on a dime in
>>>  a jiffy.
>>>  ---
>>>  https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84966716/turn-on-a-dime/
>>>  Washington Post, May 28, 1911, Sporting Section, p. 4, col. 7
>>>  The only difference in equipment is in the shoes, the American ponies
>>>  wearing light plates with a flange on the outer rim and the English ponies
>>>  having the flange on the inside of the shoe, which in their opinion is the
>>>  part of the foot most needing a bracing when a pony turns "on a dime."
>>>  ---
>>>
>>>  * stop on a dime (1921)
>>>
>>>  ---
>>>  https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84965918/you-can-stop-it-on-a-dime/
>>>  Indianapolis News, Jan. 27, 1921, p. 19 (advt.)
>>>  The New Design 1921 Franklin [...]
>>>  Increased leverage makes transmission footbrake 30% powerful. You can stop
>>>  it on a dime.
>>>  ---
>>>  https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84966009/stop-on-a-dime/
>>>  Herald and Review, Decatur, Ill., Mar. 25, 1921, p. 6, col. 2
>>>  They [sc. buses] will get you down town a little quicker than the street
>>>  cars, sometimes, and often furnish you with many thrills enroute by
>>>  stunting in front of an 18 ton street car that cannot stop on a dime, no
>>>  matter how careful the operator, or ignoring the watchman's warning at the
>>>  railroad crossing.
>>>  ---
>>>  https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84966090/stop-on-a-dime/
>>>  South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, May 2, 1922, p. 2, col. 6
>>>  It is true that "flivvers" can stop on a dime but some drivers forget that
>>>  they sometimes back up.
>>>  ---
>>>
>>>  --bgz
>>>
>>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>--
>James Eric Lawson
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org