don't take any wooden nickels

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Phrase

don't take any wooden nickels

1. (US, dated) Do not permit yourself to be cheated or duped; do not be naive.
   • 1914, Puck, volume 76, page 21:

     HELMER: What the hell, Nora? NORA: So long, Kid, don't take any wooden nickels!

   • 1917, William Ely Hill, Among Us Mortals: Pictures and Legends by W.E. Hill:

     Well, I only meant to write a line and I've written pages! Well, don't take any wooden nickels.

   • 1938, "Macy's College Shop" [display advertisement], New York Times, 14 Aug, p. 19:

     For conversation pieces . . . the whacky necklace called "Don't take any wooden nickels!" at $1.83 (designed by Martha Sleeper).

   • 1951 Jan, “Folklore in the News: Cliché Strip”, in Western Folklore, volume 10, number 1, page 84:

     H. T. Webster's comic strip, "The Timid Soul," in the Oakland Tribune of September 10, 1950 used the tendency to repeat worn phrases as the subject for the hero's good intentions. The following are recorded: . . . Don't take any wooden nickels.

   • 2000, Mark O. Everett (lyrics and music), “Wooden Nickels”, in Daisies of the Galaxy, performed by Eels:

     Don't take any wooden nickels
     When you sell your soul
     A devil of a time awaits you
     When the party's over
     You're on your own.

See also

• wooden nutmeg