Don't 5p and 10p me !

The chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, Richard Bowker, was the subject of some press comment a few weeks ago when it emerged that he had been given a first class pass allowing unlimited free travel on all major rail companies in Britain. A spokesman for the SRA said something like "Here's a guy on £250,000 a year - he isn't going to want to nickel and dime the railways". I assume the verb "to nickel and dime" means to obtain every last financial benefit however small. Is it always necessary to both nickel and dime - assuming this usage is sufficiently well established in Britian to know ?

Neil