A Dime a Dozen

This English idiom is an American English idiom but English speakers use it across the world. We say something is “a dime a dozen” when we want to express that something is of a low value, or very common. The opposite would be something very valuable or rare.

Firstly, let’s look at the individual words and make sure we understand what they mean.

Dime = An American coin which has a value of 10 cents.
Dozen = A quantity of 12

Examples of “A Dime a Dozen”

1.
A: “I need to get some new shirts for work, but I’m not sure how much they cost”
B: “Oh, don’t worry! If you go to the new store in town, you can get them a dime a dozen, it’s very cheap!”

2.
A: “I’m really sorry Jordi, I broke your watch by accident!”
B: “It’s OK, it was just a cheap watch. You can get them a dime a dozen. I’ll just buy a new one.”

3. “Low paying jobs are a dime a dozen and I know I could find one quickly if I looked. The thing is, I want a well paying job and they aren’t so easy to find.”

4. “Good guitar players are a dime a dozen in Spain but it’s much harder to find a good singer.”

5. “English schools are a dime a dozen in Barcelona, but it’s much harder to find an English school that cares about it’s students.”

A Dime a Dozen can be used to express that something is = Common, Plentiful, Low Value, Cheap. If you think about this English idioms, it literally means that you can buy 12, for only 10cents!! That’s Very Cheap!

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