Etymology Journal · W
Who put a nickel in you?
Meaning
- A sarcastic way to tell someone to stop talking or start acting normal. It implies the person is behaving like a mechanical toy or a jukebox that has been activated and won't shut up.
Dry, witty
Used in a sentence
- You have been talking for forty minutes straight; who put a nickel in you?
- The toddler started shouting nonsense, and I joked, who put a nickel in you?
- He kept repeating the same story over and over until I asked, who put a nickel in you?
The backstory
This references old-fashioned coin-operated machines like jukeboxes or wind-up toys that would run until the cycle finished. It is a very common dad-joke style insult.
Heard in
Nationwide
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