[Ads-l] "Dime Bag" Query

[Jonathan Lighter]

I mean "a hundred times that."

Naturally.

JL

On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 8:41 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Though HDAS includes cites from that 1909 source, this quote isn't in HDAS
> because it probably really means ten cents.
>
> Ten cents in 1909 is said to be the equivalent in today's purchasing power
> to about $3.50. Ten dollars would equal ten times that.
>
> So presumably, the lady stole, roughly, a nickel bag of morph.
>
> HDAS has "dime," 'ten dollars,' from no earlier than 1958.
>
> JL
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 6, 2026 at 7:59 AM Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
>
>> 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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>>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


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