I was thinking about the phrase ‘The pot calling the kettle black’. It comes from a time where cooking was done over open fires and cookware would become visibly ashy. (Fun fact: It first appears and was perhaps coined by Cervantes in Don Quixote!)
What are some other idioms that have lost their literal connection to time? What would be a good modern replacement?
(to do something) “on your dime,” i.e. at your expense - A reference to public coin operated phones, which for a long time cost 10c/a US “dime” coin per call.
Inflation by the late 70s had made the single dime call a thing of the past, but USD20c was still possible, and inflating phone fees in the 80s required increasing amounts of coinage. Public pay phones were decimated when mobile phones gained popularity and are virtually extinct today in the US.
“on your card” might be a more modern version, but cards are slowly disappearing with NFC phone payments.
Similar to when you “drop the dime” on someone, i.e. using a dime to call the cops on a payphone. Although in my lifetime, I don’t think I’ve heard anyone but Bradley Nowell use that phrase.
Ohhh, that’s where “dime you out” comes from.
On your tab.
“Picking up the phone” makes sense because you will probably pick it up to answer or dial. “Hanging up the phone” doesn’t really happen so much anymore but we still do it all the time.