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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: Life changes on a dime. My comments: I think this is a comment on the fickle and capricious nature of human life, now all good and high-flying, now totally hopeless, going downhill. Or sometimes we’re happy, healthy and flamboyant, sometimes sad, sick and lifeless. Or, by extension, sometimes life-changing decisions are made or have to be made quickly and without delay. Whatever, “on a dime” means those changes may happen suddenly and swiftly, like in an instant, much like the way a small car is able to change direction niftily and nimbly, without needing much space and without making any fuss. Originally, you see, the American expression “change on a dime” (or “turn on a dime” or “stop on a dime”) is descriptive of nimble and nifty cars and ships, pointing to the fact that a small car or ship is maneuverable and easy to handle. Here, dime literally refers to the small coin representing ten cents of a dollar. It is tiny in size, about the size of a person’s fingernail. Hence, if a vehicle or ship can make a U-turn on a dime, it must be highly maneuverable and flexible. In an open desert or the vast ocean, this makes no difference but put cars in a hutong or a small alley or sail ships into a cannel, smaller and nimbler ships make a huge difference. Anyways, back to our topic again, “life changes on a dime” means one’s fate and fortune may change suddenly, both from good to bad and vice versa. | 
