nickel tour
2
8.7
- noun
- /ˈnɪkəl tʊr/
- Informal
:
tour superficial
- I'll give you the nickel tour of the museum so you can see the highlights.
- give you the nickel tour
Examples
-
I'll give you the nickel tour.
-
- We'd love the nickel tour.
-
Come with me, and I'll show you the nickel tour of the facility.
-
After a quick briefing, she took us on a nickel tour of the new office.
Synonyms
2
7.1
A series of short visits to small towns by a politician during an election campaign
A short, cheap guided visit that shows the main places
How Thorough
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'brief or superficial tour' is built from 'tour' (literal) combined with a metaphorical use of 'nickel' to signal smallness or cheapness, so there is a partially recoverable link. However the coin-based metaphor is culturally specific and somewhat indirect, so a B1 learner who knows the words may not reliably infer the idiomatic sense without exposure.
Etymology
Nickel tour may come from the idea of a five-cent coin: a nickel stood for something cheap and small, so a tour you got for a nickel was a very quick, low-detail visit. That's why today it means 'a brief or superficial tour'.