fifty-cent tour

English

Alternative forms

• 50 cent tour, 50-cent tour, fifty cent tour

Etymology

An adaptation of earlier nickel tour accounting for inflation.

Noun

fifty-cent tour (plural fifty-cent tours)

1. (US, idiomatic, derogatory, usually humorous) A fast and general introduction to a place.

   Let me give you the fifty-cent tour of the office.

   • 2001, John Fiduccia, Paranoid, →ISBN, page 291:

     Spider then gave me the fifty-cent tour of the facility, showing me all the various departments and telling me their functions.

   • 2009, Ronald Long, The Demise of a Texas King, →ISBN:

     Investigator Bays quickly gave his young rookie the fifty-cent tour of downtown.

   • 2010, Cynthia Baxter, Summer House, →ISBN:

     “Well,” she said boldly, “if you're looking for ways to keep out of the house, I'd be happy to take you on the fifty-cent tour of the island sometime.”

Usage notes

No money at all needs to exchange hands, the low value and brief time involved being the focus of the idiom. Although it can be genuinely pejorative, it is more often used with self-depreciating humor.

Synonyms

• nickel tour (dated)