[Idiom] a dollar fifty

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ozden

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what does that mean?

"that and a dollar fifty will get me on the subway"
 

Route21

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riquecohen

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what does that mean?

"that and a dollar fifty will get me on the subway"
Whatever that is, it has no value whatsoever. Even if you have that, you will still need a dollar fifty to get on the subway.
 

ozden

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emsr2d2

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I wouldn't necessarily assume that "that" has no value. If you found a quarter (25 cents) on the ground and a subway ticket cost $1.75, then you would still be able to say "That and a dollar fifty will get me a ticket on the subway". The quarter wasn't without value. It was still worth 25 cents.
 

Rover_KE

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Note that 'a dollar fifty' is a standard collocation, whereas 'a pound fifty' is not.

Most people say 'one pound fifty'.

Rover
 

Mr_Ben

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I wouldn't necessarily assume that "that" has no value. If you found a quarter (25 cents) on the ground and a subway ticket cost $1.75, then you would still be able to say "That and a dollar fifty will get me a ticket on the subway". The quarter wasn't without value. It was still worth 25 cents.

I'm not sure and you may be right, but it sounds to me like an idiom meaning that something is worthless. I'm just putting together "dollar fifty" and "subway," I hear it in a Brooklyn accent, and it sounds like a put-down. I guess everything sounds like a put-down in a Brooklyn accent.

riquecohen, confirm/deny? :cool:

ozden, can you please post more of the original context, I'm curious! Thanks!
 

Barb_D

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I've never heard the subway version before, but it is indeed a standard idiom to mean something is worthless. I'm more familiar with "that and an X will buy you a cup of coffee." "X" has gone up with the price of coffee, but it's whatever the coffee costs, so that "that" is worth zero.
 

probus

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"X" has gone up with the price of coffee, but it's whatever the coffee costs, so that "that" is worth zero.

Exactly. That and five bucks will get you a coffee at Starbuck's still means that that is worthless, even if a coffee at Starbuck's has gone up to seven bucks, which it probably has.
 

ozden

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I'm not sure and you may be right, but it sounds to me like an idiom meaning that something is worthless. I'm just putting together "dollar fifty" and "subway," I hear it in a Brooklyn accent, and it sounds like a put-down. I guess everything sounds like a put-down in a Brooklyn accent.

riquecohen, confirm/deny? :cool:

ozden, can you please post more of the original context, I'm curious! Thanks!

LEO:Were my parents ever in love?
VERA: I think at first he made her stop worrying, and now he makes her worry more. But that's just what i think, and that and a dollar fifty will get me on the subway.


They are smoking marijuana in this scene, by the way.


And at another line of the text, it is indicated that Vera is doing a Brooklyn accent.
 

Route21

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All is revealed!
What a difference it makes finally being provided with the context!
Wish we had it at the start!
R21
 

Barb_D

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It means his opinion is worth nothing.
 
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