NICKLE N I C K LE 镍 是美元中五分钱的硬币

Dime D I M E是美元中十分钱的铸币

dime是值十美分的硬币。 dime的价值虽然是nickel的两倍， 但是dime也只是一枚很小的硬币，而且dime跟 nickel相比是既小又薄，原因是过去曾经用比镍贵重得多的银子来铸造dime。

Nickle-and-dime can be used as a verb, and it can also be used as an adjective. Let’s see what does it mean by knowing some examples. Suppose a dad is complaining about his kids that they often ask him for money.

Nickel-and-dime既可以被当作一个动词来用，也可以作为一个形容词。我们还是通过例句来领会它的意思吧。先看一位爸爸在抱怨自己两个十多岁的子女老向父母要零花钱，数目虽然不大， 但是长年累月、积少成多，也成为负担了。请注意他话里的习惯用语nickel-and-dime是个复合动词：

例句1：Our kids Bill and Susie nickel-and-dime my wife and me to death. It's just a few dollars every time, but it never stops and after a while it adds up to so much money it makes quite a hole in our pockets.

他说：他们的孩子Bill和Susie老问他和太太来要零花钱，烦得要命。虽然每回只是几美元，但是没完没了，长此以往， 就成了一大笔钱，好象他们口袋里有个窟窿似的。

这段话里的复合动词nickel-and-dime意思显然是零打碎敲地长期消耗，而花费了大笔钱财。刚才说过习惯用语nickel-and-dime也可以当形容词用。比方说，在这句话里：

例句2：He has a little nickle-and-dime business that makes just enough money to put food on the table and pay the rent.

这句话是说一个人有个小本经营的小买卖，挣来的钱刚够饭钱和房租。

这里的nickle-and-dime描绘business，是形容词，意思就是“小本经营的”，或者“微不足道的”