double-nickel en · NOUN
Etymology
From trucker slang in the 1970s referring to the national 55 mph speed limit, based on nickel (“five-cent coin”).
Meanings
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(US, slang) The national speed limit of 55 miles per hour introduced in the USA in 1974.
Peckinpah is just as interested in the old golf-cart codger who says “Damn the double-nickel!” (in reference to the 55mph speed limit) as he is in Duck or Lyle, and much more so than in Ali MacGraw’s character, along for the ride and marquee value.
2015 August 20, Michael Barrett, “Damn the Double Nickel: "Convoy" Shows a Great Director Slumming”, in Pop Matters:But in 1982 they found a loophole: Keep the double-nickel speed limit, but effectively allow motorists to drive up to 65 by designating that speed a “waste of a finite resource” and setting the fine at $15.
2015 February 17, Howard Fischer, “Bill takes teeth out of state speed limits”, in Arizona Daily Star:
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(US, slang) The number 55 (by extension).
This night was insane. Knicks win, Sixers win, Wolves win. Kyrie drops a double-nickel.
2015 January 29, Matt Moore, “Five-Star Review: Kyrie Irving's double-nickel night”, in CBSSports:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| double-nickels | Number=Plur | lexicographic |