Idiom
A dime a dozen
By EasySay. Published . Updated .
A dime a dozen means very common, ordinary and easy to find.
A dime is an American coin, so a dozen of something for a dime is worthless. People use it for things and for skills: cafés in the city centre are a dime a dozen. It can sound a little rude, because it says the thing is not special.
Written for EasySay, in our own words.
In short
- AvoidDo not use it about a person to their face.
- Or sayTwo a penny
A dime a dozen: what it is, and what it is not
- IS
- Very common and ordinary; easy to find and not special.
- IS
- About 0.05 times per million words in British books, 2010 to 2019.
- IS
- About 0.09 times per million words in American books, 2010 to 2019.
- IS NOT
- About twelve things sold for a dime: it means very common and ordinary.
- DEPENDS
- Longman labels it informal and American English, and gives “ten a penny” as the British phrase.
- DEPENDS
- Longman gives “ten a penny” as the British phrase, and Collins COBUILD gives “two a penny” as the usual British phrase.
- DEPENDS
- Longman labels it informal and American English.
Meaning: Very common and ordinary; easy to find and not special.
How do people say it?
- In conversation:
Second-hand bikes are a dime a dozen in this town, so you will find one fast.
- At work:
Designers with that skill are a dime a dozen now, so we can take our time hiring.
Check yourself
What should I know?
The words say
Twelve of something sold for a dime, a coin worth very little.
It really means
So common that it has little value; ordinary and easy to find.
What do dictionaries say?
- In Australia
- Longman labels it informal and American English, and gives “ten a penny” as the British phrase. The dictionaries we checked give it no Australian label, so it is general English, not only from Australia.
- In the UK
- Longman gives “ten a penny” as the British phrase, and Collins COBUILD gives “two a penny” as the usual British phrase. Google Books (2010 to 2019): about 0.05 times per million words in British books.
- In the US
- Longman labels it informal and American English. Google Books (2010 to 2019): about 0.09 times per million words in American books.
What mistakes should I avoid?
- Do not use it about a person to their face. It says they are ordinary, which can hurt.
- Keep the words in order: “a dime a dozen”. “A dozen a dime” is not the phrase.
- It is about how common a thing is, not about its price. Do not use it when you only mean cheap.
The picture behind the phrase is a market stall long ago, where ordinary goods sold for a dime a dozen. The dime was a small coin, so twelve of something for one dime meant the thing was worth almost nothing.
The price is the joke of the phrase: the coins are too small to count. What matters is the pile. When things sit in a pile this big, each one stops feeling special, and that is the point the speaker makes.
That point can sting, so think about who hears it. Said about bikes, cafés or phone cases, the phrase is harmless and even useful: it tells a friend not to pay too much. Said about a skill, a painting or a job application, it lands on a person.
“Writers are a dime a dozen” tells a writer that years of practice count for nothing. If you mean the market is full, say that instead. The plain sentence gives the fact without judging the person.
Learners often meet the phrase beside its opposite, “once in a blue moon”. The two make a neat pair: one thing is easy to find, the other happens only now and then. Put them together in your notebook with one example each.
Say “Good plumbers are not a dime a dozen in this town” and “Snow here happens once in a blue moon”. Together they fix both phrases faster than either one alone. Opposites are kind to memory, and these two are used in every country.
What else can I say?
- Two a penny British for the same idea: very common and cheap.
- Common A plain phrase.
- Nothing special Direct; it can sound rude about a person.
More idioms
- Once in a blue moon Very rarely; something that happens only now and then.
- The whole nine yards Everything, all the way; with nothing left out.
More examples
- In a text:
Do not pay extra. Phone cases like that are a dime a dozen online.
Questions people ask
Is “a dime a dozen” rude?
It can be. About things it is harmless, but about a person's work it sounds sharp. Use “common” when you want to be kind.
What is a dime?
A dime is a US coin, one tenth of a dollar. The phrase comes from the US, where a dozen of something for a dime meant almost nothing.
What is the British phrase?
Longman gives “ten a penny” as the British phrase, and Collins COBUILD gives “two a penny” as the usual British phrase. Both carry the same picture of something so cheap that it is nothing special.
Sources and dates
- EasySay's own writing for the idioms, EasySay. Licence: original writing for EasySay. Checked .
- Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: usage labels, Pearson Education. Licence: our own words, from the facts in the source. Checked .
- Collins English Dictionary and COBUILD: usage labels, HarperCollins Publishers. Licence: our own words, from the facts in the source. Checked .
- Google Books Ngram Viewer: counts per million words, 2010 to 2019, Google. Licence: our own words, from the facts in the source. Checked . Counts read from the Google Books Ngram Viewer (British and American English corpora, 2010 to 2019). Google publishes the Ngram data under CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Cite this page
EasySay. "A dime a dozen". https://easysay.org/idioms/a-dime-a-dozen. Last updated 23 October 2026.
https://easysay.org/idioms/a-dime-a-dozen