[Ads-l] "Dime Bag" Query

[Jesse Sheidlower]

I also feel the need to mention that Green's Dictionary of Slang, while not having examples of _dime bag_ or _nickel bag_ as early as OED, does have much earlier citations for _dime_ '$10 worth of an illicit drug'. OED's earliest for this, at sense 4.b., is the 1965 example at _dime bag_; Green has 1909 and 1961:

1909 C.B. Chrysler _White Slavery_ 45: ‘Say, Bell, you know that little red-headed quim that boards over at Scar Face Annie’s. She took a dime’s worth last night.’ [...] When they speak of ‘a dime’s worth’ they mean morphine.

1961 Rigney & Smith _Real Bohemia_ xx: The purchases are made in cash: an ace ($1) [...] nickel ($5), dime.

The 1961 example antedates sense 2.c. of _nickel_ as well.

I have sent these in to OED.

Jesse Sheidlower

On Tue, Jan 06, 2026 at 06:43:38AM -0500, ADSGarson O'Toole wrote:
> The OED has a March 7, 1965 citation for dime bag (drug)
> The OED has a 1963 citation for nickel bag (drug)
> 
> OED dime bag noun
> [Begin OED excerpt]
> Originally and chiefly North American.
> a. A bag containing ten cents' worth of something; b. slang a packet
> or measure of a small amount (originally ten dollars' worth) of an
> illicit drug; cf. nickel bag n.
> 1915 There will be included absolutely free a dime bag of
> fresh-roasted peanuts! Butte (Montana) Miner 6 April 5/1
> (advertisement)
> 1946 The green and yellow paper grass again is being sold by the dime bag.
> Syracuse (New York) Herald Amer. 24 March 36/4
> 1965 Inside a leg at the other end of the bed was Wally's stash: four
> nickel bags and two dime bags—$40 worth of heroin altogether.
> Chicago Tribune 7 March (Magazine) 29/1
> [End OED excerpt]
> 
> OED nickel bag noun
> [Begin OED excerpt]
> U.S. slang.
> A bag containing, or a measure of, five dollars' worth of a drug.
> 1963 Nickel bag [see nickel n. A.2c].
> [End OED excerpt]
> 
> OED nickel noun
> [Begin OED excerpt]
> 2.c. U.S. slang. Five dollars' worth of a drug (originally marijuana).
> Recorded earliest in nickel bag n.
> 1963 These criminal activities are directed toward the acquisition of
> larger sums of money when related to drug use. Even a ‘nickel bag’ of
> marihuana costs $5.
> American Sociological Review vol. 28 426/2
> [End OED excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 6:17 AM Shapiro, Fred
> <00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > I am having trouble getting into some OED entries.  Can anyone check for me what is the earliest citation on oed.com for "dime bag" meaning a $10 packet of a drug ?
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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