If I had a nickel點解??

When someone uses this expression, they mean that the specific thing happens a lot.It is an abbreviation of the statement 'If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I would be rich'
it supose that eveytime it happened, you have a nickel ( an amount of money), because it happens all the time, so you will be rich... :)
jope i can help

2011-01-10 17:22:39 補充：
um.... i'm not sure but this is what i think.....
your sentense may not necessarily make sense.It may be an example of what is called a "mixed metaphor". It was probably said to show the person who said it does not think very hard about what she says (and also to get a laugh).

2011-01-10 17:22:45 補充：
'If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I would be rich" this is my chinese explanation:''如果每一次發生E件事,我都有(I will be given) 0.5cents(五分幣),咁我就會好有錢''

2011-01-10 17:22:55 補充：
for more information, u can take a look at this website:http://www.englishpage.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-5575.html

(1) 'If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I would be rich.如果每次那種事發生,我會得一個硬幣，那我會有很多錢。 IF I HAD A NICKEL FOR EVERY TIME – When someone uses this expression, they mean that the specific thing happens a lot(那種特定的事情常常發生。). It is an abbreviation of the statement ‘If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I would be rich’
(2)
If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I'd be a naked man. 每次得知我只得一個硬幣,我總會感到赤裸裸般的。每次得知我沒錢,我總會感到沒安全感。If : 每次...的時候(總會)e.g.If I feel any doubt, I inquire. 每次我感到有疑問,我總會隨時詢問。Hear : 得知[W][+(that)e.g.I heard that he was ill. 我得知他病了。Naked :裸體的, 光身的[Z]e.g.The boy was naked to the waist. 男孩光著上身。 nickel : U.S. one-cent coin[very small amounts of money] [For those not familiar with US coinage; a quarter is 25 cents, a dime is 10 cents and a nickel is 5 cents.]nickel 1755, coined in 1754 by Swed. mineralogist Axel von Cronstedt (1722-65) from shortening of Swed. kopparnickel "copper-colored ore" (from which it was first obtained), a half-translation of Ger. Kupfernickel, lit. "copper demon," from Kupfer (see copper) + Nickel "demon, goblin, rascal" (a pet form of masc. proper name Nikolaus, cf. Eng. Old Nick "the devil;" see Nicholas); the ore so called by miners because it looked like copper but yielded none. Meaning "coin made partly of nickel" is from 1857, when the U.S. introduced one-cent coins made of nickel to replace the old bulky copper pennies. Application to five-cent piece (originally one part nickel, three parts copper) is from 1883, Amer.Eng.; in earlier use were silver half-dimes . To nickel-and-dime (someone) is from 1970 ( nickels and dimes "very small amounts of money" is attested from 1893). http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/260800.html

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ChanWingTung 是正确的 :)

When someone uses this expression, they mean that the specific thing happens a lot. It is an abbreviation of the statement 'If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I would be rich' (from http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/if+i+had+a+nickel+f )