flips and gasmeters

[sagehen]

 Doug Wilson writes:
 >
>The problem with taking "flip" and "gasmeter" to denote different specific
>units of money is that one must be very much larger than the other for the
>exchange to seem reasonable. If (say) the meanings were "dime" and
>"quarter" respectively then the request would be for 50 cents, with a
>counteroffer of 20 cents which is rebuffed. This doesn't seem plausible; I
>would expect "Thanks, I'll bet the 20 cents" or else "Couldn't you make it
>30 or 40 cents?" or something like that. I can't see an offer of -- say --
>2-10 cents being qualified as "killer" even among poor folks in 1940; on
>the other hand, a 1940 welfare check probably was no great fortune. I might
>picture the offer as being on the order of 50 cents (two quarters) and the
>request being for something like $10-$20.
>
>Those who are a little older than I am might have a better feel for this.
>
>-- Doug Wilson

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"Brother, can you spare a dime?"
A.Murie