I read/watch a lot of old mysteries. Up until about 1980, it’s common for writers to put exact amounts of money in the dialogue. They stopped doing that because something that seemed like a lot of money would eventually seem cheap. For instance, Jim Rockford’s $200.00 a day plus expenses doesn’t seem like a lot of money when minimum wage is $120.00 a day. Or the famous $5.00 milkshake in ‘Pulp Fiction.’
It’s a pretty famous joke from the old show ‘Arrested Development.’ A rich matron asks ‘how much can a banana cost? $10?’
I’m bracing for all the memes when bananas actually cost ten bucks soon.
I read/watch a lot of old mysteries. Up until about 1980, it’s common for writers to put exact amounts of money in the dialogue. They stopped doing that because something that seemed like a lot of money would eventually seem cheap. For instance, Jim Rockford’s $200.00 a day plus expenses doesn’t seem like a lot of money when minimum wage is $120.00 a day. Or the famous $5.00 milkshake in ‘Pulp Fiction.’