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Mini-contest 2012: "Yogi Berra Quotes"»  Source text notes: English

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Examples:
Source textPossible source text note
We're lost, but we're making good time.In US English, 'making good time' means 'making good progress' (not 'having fun').
If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be.Grammatically, a contradiction. This adds to the impact of the remark.
I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.'encyclopedia' sounds like something you could ride to school on. (That's the only reason this quote is notable.)

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Source text segment #10

- "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."

Notes about this source segment

Rank by:
+20
"{blank} ain't worth a dime" is a set expression. This quote is funny because Yogi inserted "nickel".
+14 | -3
Actually, it is the other way around: a nickel is worth 5 US cents and the dime is worth 10 US cents.
+14 | -4
Money has lost its value.
+9
It's funny because a nickel has never been worth a dime!
+6 | -2
It's not only "ain't worth a dime" that is a set expression here. We should not forget about the other set expression as well - nickel-and-dime (adj.), which means unimportant or involving little money. So the effect of pun is achieved here by means of th
+1
Berra's thoughts on inflation.
+1 | -2
Here I expected some Spanish native to write: "Una rubia ya no vale un duro." "rubia" -"blond"- was the 1 peseta coin, which was golden (blond) due to a copper-nickel alloy, and "duro" was a 5 pesetas coin. A pitty nobody though of it.
-5
Nowadays a dime (10¢) is not enough to buy what used to cost a nickel (5¢ = half)) in the past. Just check the web... in 1926 a new, no-frills, T-model Ford cost only $260.
-8
(I don't know about the value of nickel nor dime, but I suppose this is what it means).
Something can once be very useful. But once the time has passed, it is no longer as worthy.
-13
One has to know that a nickel is 10 US cents and a dime is 5...

Source text

Full source text (2)

#1 - "I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous." (29)

#2 - "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." (18)

#3 - "You can observe a lot just by watchin'." (15)

#4 - "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." (24)

#5 - "I can't concentrate when I'm thinking." (12)

#6 - "The future ain't what it used to be." (10)

#7 - "I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did." (19)

#8 - "We're lost, but we're making good time." (12)

#9 - "Half the lies they tell about me aren't true." (8)

#10 - "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." (10)

#11 - "It's like deja-vu, all over again." (8)

#12 - "It ain't over till it's over." (11)

#13 - Mrs. Lindsay: "You certainly look cool." Yogi Berra: "Thanks, you don't look so hot yourself." (10)

#14 - "If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be." (22)