don't take any wooden nickels

phrase

One should not permit oneself to be cheated or duped; one should not be naive.

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Meanings

phrase
  1. USdatedOne should not permit oneself to be cheated or duped; one should not be naive.

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

    1914, Puck, volume 76, page 21
    4 more examples

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

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

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

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

    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.

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

    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.

    2000, Mark O. Everett, “Wooden Nickels”, in Daisies of the Galaxy, performed by Eels
Cite this entry
APA

don't take any wooden nickels. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/don't%20take%20any%20wooden%20nickels

MLA

“don't take any wooden nickels.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/don't%20take%20any%20wooden%20nickels. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “don't take any wooden nickels,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/don't%20take%20any%20wooden%20nickels.

Source: don't take any wooden nickels on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.