The term "cheaper than spit" is most definitely deep rooted in American Southern Culture. I know I have said this before and have heard it from people in the area where I live. It is a term that goes back to Southern/Appalachian farm life from an extended phrase "nothing is cheaper than a mother's spit" in regards to fixing up simple wounds that children would receive while working the farms or playing. I don't know about elsewhere, but there have been many times when my mom has soothed a scraped up knee or elbow by spitting on a rag to clean me up.
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