Come off the money (= get off the dime?)

[Mark A Mandel]

On Sat, 13 Apr 2002, James A. Landau wrote:

#Just a guess, but could it be that the "dime" in question was the one spent
#to get into a pay toilet and "get off the dime" is a rewording, or maybe
#euphemism, for "get off the pot"?
#
#     Here I sit,
#     broken-hearted
#     paid my dime
#     and only farted

That sounds quite plausible, esp. in connection with the idiom "Shit or
get off the pot" meaning 'Either do something about the situation or
stop {blocking the way / taking up our time / whining about it}'.

#According to an Englishwoman I met in 1982, British pay toilets (or whatever
#they call them) cost a shilling, and "I have to spend a shilling" meant "I
#have to go to the lieu".

I've often heard "spend a penny" (UK contexts), maybe older in origin
but fossilized (a coprolith? a cuprolith? ;-)\ ). But I've never seen
"lieu", only "loo"!

-- Mark A. Mandel