To start; stop wasting time; get off the block: How do we get off the dime we're on?/ with word from the Mayor to get off the dime
[1925+; alteration of the expression stop on a dime, used to praise the brakes of a car]
Idioms and Phrases with get off the dime
get off the dime
Take action, especially following a time of indecision or delay. For example, It's time this administration got off the dime and came up with a viable budget. This expression originated in the 1920s in dance-halls as an imperative for dancers to get moving. By 1926 it had been extended to other activities.