What does the expression: A broken penny is not worth? Read a book broken penny What does it mean and is not worth a penny
Not worth a penny- has no value or is simply not good for anything.
A penny - copper or iron - has long been one of the smallest coins - worth two kopecks. Speaking of extreme poverty: "Not a penny (no); There is no penny for the soul". With the help of the word penny, they also spoke about a small or insignificant amount of something: "Abyss for nothing"- that is, for nothing, in vain; "do not put anyone in a penny"- that is, not to respect, not to reckon with anyone.
With the transition of the Russian monetary system to silver (in the second half of the 19th century), the copper or iron penny lost all price and became a symbol of lack of money, a trifle, then in general - a trifle, an extremely small amount.
And why did the expression broken penny appear? You can answer this question only by knowing the old meanings of the participle and the adjective broken. The fact is that the verb to break used to mean not only “break off, separate”, but also simply “bend, bend, crush”. A bent, dented coin was called a broken one, and a coin that was worn out from prolonged use was called a blind one. In the Dictionary of V.I. Dahl, among other options, is given as follows: "There is neither broken nor blind penny".
Thus, the literal meaning of the expression broken penny is "bent, dented", that is, spoiled when used. Hence the figurative meaning of the phrase is clear: "It's not worth a penny"- has no value, absolutely no good for anything.
Based on materials: Culture of oral and written speech of a business person: a Handbook. Workshop - M.: Flint: Science, 2000.
Broken penny
Psk. Not at all, absolutely nothing. POS 8, 42.
Big dictionary of Russian sayings. - M: Olma Media Group. V. M. Mokienko, T. G. Nikitina. 2007 .
See what "Broken penny" is in other dictionaries:
broken, broken, broken. 1. Broken, broken. Broken things. Broken silver. 2. trans. Warped, with an incorrect pronunciation (about language, speech). In broken French, he had difficulty explaining what he needed. 3. change… … Dictionary Ushakov
Cried for what. Novg. Shuttle. iron. About a very small amount. Sergeeva 2004, 164. A penny is worth [on a market day] to whom, what. Razg. Contempt. Who l., what l. good for nothing, has no value, no meaning. FSRYa, 112; BMS 1998, 138; … Big dictionary of Russian sayings
BUT; m. [Polish. Gross, German Grosch from lat. (denarius) grossus thick (denarius)]. 1. In Russia: from 1657 to 1838: a copper coin worth two kopecks, later (from 1838 to 1917) half a kopeck. Beef cost a pound a pound, three kopecks in summer. Neither... encyclopedic Dictionary
penny price- (Copper, broken) penny price (on a market day) to someone for something Has little value or no value, costs nothing ... Dictionary of many expressions
Grosh, penny, husband. 1. A coin worth half a penny (obsolete). 2. more often pl. Little money, negligible price. This work is unprofitable: they pay pennies for it. It's worth a penny. For a penny or for a penny to buy, sell something (very cheap, almost for nothing). ❖ Neither… … Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov
GROSH, husband. 1. An old copper coin of two kopecks, later half a kopeck. There is not a penny (absolutely no money; colloquial). G. price to whom what n. or g. copper (broken) price to someone for something. or a penny of copper (broken) is not worth (is not worth anything, nowhere ... ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov
- (about low-value) For him, give a penny to be underpaid, and give two to transfer. Penny worth a penny, of little value Cf. The people have become weak ... Take me, for example ... I'm worthless, in the whole village I am the most last man, but still (I’m in my seventh decade) ... strength ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary
penny- Not a penny (colloquial) no money at all. Which day there is not a penny in your pocket. A copper or broken penny is not worth anything to anyone or a penny (copper, broken) (colloquial iron.) is not worth anything, very bad, good for nothing. Copper penny price ... ...
Aya, oh. 1. Broken, broken. L th things. L y boards. Lay bed. L. castle. 2. Wrong, distorted (about speech, language). Speak in broken English language. Hear the broken speech of foreigners. 3. Unfold Survivors of harsh life... encyclopedic Dictionary
break- A broken penny for someone whose price is worth nothing, very bad, no good. Such help is worth a penny. Puzzle over what over what (colloquial) try to understand what n. difficult; decide which difficult question. What are you up to now... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language
Books
- Pestle is a broken penny, Vishnevsky Sergey Viktorovich. Pest is still quite a boy, and already a sorcerer and a student of the academy of magic. He is passionately drawn to knowledge, copes with strict teachers, but the most difficult test awaits him at home.…
- Pestle is a broken penny, Vishnevsky Sergey Viktorovich. Annotation to the book `Pest is a broken penny`Pest is still quite a boy, and already a sorcerer and a student of the Academy of Magic. He is passionately drawn to knowledge, copes with strict teachers, but the most ...
Not worth a penny what. Razg. Express. 1.
Nothing is good, nothing is of any value. On the 31st in the morning we passed a place called Izdeliya and another, called Istigov. Neither one nor the other deserves attention. From the outside, they look like splendid towns, but when they drive in, they are not worth a penny.(Fonvizin. Letters from the second trip abroad). - Where have my things been hidden? They weren't hidden anywhere. They gave a three-ruble note, and he took everything away ... Yes, all that rubbish is not worth a penny(L. Skorik. Surprise). 2.
Not worthy of attention, trifling, insignificant. - Yes, sir, this business turned out to be a grain business, ... the richest! .. But for an ignorant person it was a trifling matter, it was not worth a penny ...(Dal. Bread business).
Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008 .
See what "It's not worth a penny" in other dictionaries:
IT'S NOT WORTH A PENIE
AND IT'S NOT WORTH A PENIE- what, who has no value. Sometimes it is implied that the real value of what l., whom l. understated by the speaker, including intentionally. This means that the results of mental activity (theories, concepts, thoughts, etc.) or deed (P) ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language
not worth a penny- not worth a penny / broken line worth nothing, good for nothing ... Dictionary of many expressions
NOT WORTH A PIECE OF COPPER- what, who has no value. Sometimes it is implied that the real value of what l., whom l. understated by the speaker, including intentionally. This means that the results of mental activity (theories, concepts, thoughts, etc.) or deed (P) ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language
not worth a penny- adj., number of synonyms: 40 secondary (69) not worth a damn (48) ... Synonym dictionary
AND IT'S NOT WORTH A PIECE OF COPPER- what, who has no value. Sometimes it is implied that the real value of what l., whom l. understated by the speaker, including intentionally. This means that the results of mental activity (theories, concepts, thoughts, etc.) or deed (P) ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language
For what. DO NOT GIVE A PENNY BROKEN for what. Prost. Neglect About a thing that costs nothing, has no value. Of course, the device was primitive ... On a market day, they won’t give a broken penny for such an “invention” (A. Rokshin. The main thing ... ...
DO NOT GIVE A PENNY BROKEN for what. DO NOT GIVE A PENNY BROKEN for what. Prost. Neglect About a thing that costs nothing, has no value. Of course, the device was primitive ... On a market day, for such an “invention”, a broken penny is not ... ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language
What. Razg. Express. 1. Nothing is good for anything, it is of no value. On the 31st in the morning we passed a place called Izdeliya and another, called Istingov. Neither one nor the other deserves attention. From the outside, they seem like splendid towns, but when you drive in ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language
not worth a penny- adj., number of synonyms: 59 junk (42) shitty (58) shit (62) ... Synonym dictionary
Books
- Cruel romance. Trilogy (set of 3 books), B. K. Sedov. "Cruel Romance" - a trilogy about Tamara Astafieva. She was betrayed, but she got her revenge. "Prisoner". The life of fourteen-year-old Tamara took a sharp turn: her parents were brutally murdered, and the girl herself ...
Four hundred million years ago, the earth of a huge continent trembled, and its trembling gave rise to folds and depressions, stretching from north to south. The ridges of the Western and Eastern Sayan, Tannu-Ola rose and descended into the basin as small hills, between which the steppe, scorched by the summer sun and chilled by winter frosts, stretched. The Great Ulug-Khem cut through the formed depression, and carried its mighty and clear waters to the joy of the birth of any fish and animal generation.
Time looked at this grace and rested from the whirlwind of black holes, supernova explosions and various other cataclysms, and thought it would stop at this wonderful corner of a beautiful blue planet. However, people lived according to their Charter, from event to event. And it doesn't matter to them whether Time has gone or stopped and looks at human affairs, swaying in surprise between the past and the future. What is four hundred million years on a cosmic scale? Time blinked in thought, but millions passed by.
And now, in the fertile valley, a flat water surface spread from the mountain ranges covered with impenetrable taiga, gradually shallowing, flooded the great West Siberian plain. And there was no end in sight to this cold, mercury-colored water blanket.
Village or village, city or city, I just look, standing in the middle of a deserted street, how did I get here? After all, she was walking along the bank of the man-made sea, which was spread out in front of a powerful hydroelectric power station, to breathe fresh air, to relax from the bustle of the city. And suddenly she was in an unfamiliar place. On the sides of the road, the sedge grass slopes, but there seems to be no wind. The houses are gray, colorless, empty eye sockets of windows look at me with bitter reproach. And I don't know what I've done wrong to them. She went quietly, without haste, if only to meet a living soul somewhere, otherwise the cold and bitter doom creep in, and look and settle down on the heart, you won’t get rid of it! And suddenly, thank God, a lopsided old log house, clean glass shines in the windows. She raised her eyes, looked up, and there the blue splashes, penetrated by sunlight, but it’s only strange - the sun itself is not visible. Like it doesn't exist.
The path leads to the house, along it the same sedge slopes, and at the very threshold there is a tree trunk; it can be seen that it fell down a long time ago: fragments of branches have turned black, with broken hands reaching for the front doors, as if to the owners for help. There is nowhere to go, I go up the porch, go around the branches-hands, pity inside me, so under my heart, as if I was stepping over human misfortune. Which one? Whose? I can't understand. At the very door, the smell of fresh bread is guessed. Apparently the owner bakes it. There is no lock, she pushed the gray door, as if soaked with many waters, and entered the little house. Inside, it is divided into two halves by a Russian stove. Cleanliness and peace spread over self-woven rugs and curl around the cat, warmed by the stove, with warmth and comfort. The cat squints, purrs, apparently, she likes such company. And only then did she look at the old woman. In a long warm gray pleated skirt, from under the edge of which shiny galoshes peek out. In the same gray jacket and a quilted sleeveless jacket on top, and on his head a white scarf with small dark polka dots is tied.
-Come on. Why are you standing at the threshold? Now I will take the shangs out of the oven. There is a stool at the table, sit down, there is no truth at your feet. She sighed, holding her old chest with her hands, as if a great weight prevented her. - Yes, now I don’t know if there is “Truth” anywhere in your world?
- In what light, grandmother? - Suddenly I was frightened, more and more aware of the strangeness of what was happening.
- Don't rush. Everything has its time. - She opened the stove damper, but I did not feel the heat from there, although I was sitting close.
Meanwhile, the old woman took out a sheet of pastries, put them on the table and went to the window. She looked for something, finally took a newspaper that had yellowed from time to time from the windowsill, and shuffled back. And I froze, because when she took the newspaper, the king-fish swam past the window. I've only seen them in pictures in my life, but I didn't even doubt that it was her! And the fish froze for a moment, looking at the old woman, and slowly disappeared, only strange stains on the glass went, as if the water was swaying. But... where am I then? And how did you get here? However, my grandmother interrupted my thoughts:
-Here, take it. Do not turn around until you cross the threshold of your house.
The shangas on the sheet were magnificent, beautiful, and the bag with them fit in my pocket.
-What next? Eat?
Grandma smiled.
- Oh, young-green. Not by bread alone... even though he is the head of everything. These things are destined for you by fate. If you mix it up at random, they will turn into heavy stones, and you will wear them in your bosom for the rest of your life. If you do it honestly, you will be rewarded. Then I allowed you to come to me through the water as if on dry land.
-How through the water? I got cold.
-Do not interrupt. - She went to the window, looking at something behind the glass, waved her old hand to someone invisible and turned to me. - People arrange their lives. This is good. It is bad that many other innocent lives are ruined for this. We need dams, we need light, but fish and any other living creatures want to live no less than people. They are created by the same hand as man. Pain and sadness are felt. Diseases pester them, pestilence and hunger from the consequences of human trade attacked. Do you think it's good to do things like that?
-What can I do? One in the field...
- Get started and you'll see. Where to start - you will have to understand yourself. I can't help you, a heavy burden is pressing on my chest. Remember, when arranging your life, people should protect forest animals, aquatic animals, forests and fields more than their eyes. When you return, look around: the big city is not far away, summer, closeness; why, then, on the man-made seashore there are very few vacationers, and they are not very cheerful? Yes, because the water here is dead, and it is not the sea that is life-giving, but a mortal place for everyone who previously lived here. People thought about themselves, the rest were thrown to the mercy of fate - to death. This is not the sea - a cemetery, but who will go to the cemetery to rest? I have nothing more to say. Go, you can't stay here.
You can believe it or not, but I suddenly clearly felt that by some miracle I had penetrated into THAT world, even for a moment, to the very outskirts. And rushed to the grandmother:
- Darling, be kind, please tell me, can you tell my grandmother ... Anastasia her name is ...
- It was said - get out of here! You also care about yourself and your soul, look around - how many helpless people are toiling around? - And so glared eyes that I froze in mid-sentence. On wadded legs I stepped towards the door, either walking or wandering along the wet sedge, and along the sand, it seemed, my eyes were enveloped in fog. It can be seen - and in fact the time is up.
I came to my senses near the UAZ on the shore of the reservoir.
- Well, where did you go?
- So, it's not far away... along the bank... I breathed some air.
My husband was packing.
- I wanted to leave the bait. The fish is teeming, but all sick. There, swollen on top floats. What is going on with the animals and birds? They do eat that fish!
He didn't look happy at all.
-They say that when local villages were flooded, some old people refused to leave their homes. - He looked at me from under his brows: - Get ready faster. Something he himself is not happy with such a rest. And then I remembered the story. - He hesitated a little and, as if reluctantly, continued: - So, just about in this area, the old woman seemed to agree to move, but then it turned out that the graves of her husband and son went under water. At first they promised to transfer them, and then they got off with such a promise, well, she stayed in her house ... hers.
- Drowned? - my voice is hoarse. And I, pressing my hands to my chest, looked at my husband, then at the sea.
-Who knows her? The allocated apartment was empty for a long time. And then... someone moved in.
Not believing herself, she put her hand into her pocket and felt for a bundle of newspaper. However, she remembered the words of her grandmother, endured until the house. And there she took out from her pocket an old faded newspaper "Fires of the Sayan" of the year nineteen hundred and seventy-eight, unfolded it ... and instead of little steps there were five pieces of colored pebbles rolled in water. And my heart became so anxious that I simply did not know where to rush.
At least convince yourself that I couldn’t walk along the bottom of the reservoir, that I imagined all this, but how to explain where the newspaper came from? No answer!
And that would be all right, but suddenly I realized so clearly that my life - calm and well-established - will now flow in a different direction. And what about the arranged life, but the established habits, and my family, which has arranged its life in my worries and troubles - how to deal with all this? This is all my own, acquired and developed over many years, oh, how not easy! And I didn't want to change anything! And to engage in environmental protection, to argue with the rich and powerful - it's not my business! But what about? Five stones in the bosom is a heavy load. And again she remembered the words of her grandmother that she had to start somewhere.
The next morning was warm and sunny. I quickly made breakfast and got ready.
-It's you, where did you get a little light? - sipping tea, the husband asked.
-I looked yesterday at how we treat nature, and decided that ...
-What? What have you decided? Don't you have anything to do? The public has been found!
But yesterday you yourself said such things ...
-So what? What do you need most? Sit down, pinch your tail!
- You didn't even ask: where am I going, what do I want to do? - And by the way my husband pursed his lips, how sharply he pushed the cup away, I realized that he would not approve of such a change in me. But she couldn't stop.
- I'll try to get back as soon as possible. Until I find out how it is, so what? And without waiting for an answer, she ran out the door.
From that day on, my life really changed. So far, there's not much to brag about. I'm spinning, trying to do everything around the house. Changed work. Officially transferred to the environmental inspection. At first, there was complete discontent in the family. After all, as before, I could not devote so much time to everyone. Yes, and not very feminine - my current job. Let me tell you, it's hard. And then I missed it - one pebble disappeared. Although he would have nowhere to go, I hide it in a separate box. I was upset, I don’t go by myself. I didn’t tell anyone from my family about that story, I was afraid they wouldn’t believe how I would look in their eyes? I'm thinking in my head: what's wrong? What can't I do? Meanwhile, my husband bought a new car. We have been planning for a long time, but somehow it did not work out. That on that, on another - the part of the postponed money flowed away. And here, somehow at once, there is money and the right car. Came smiling.
-Here are the keys, here is the issued insurance. Own.
- It's a pebble that has turned... a pebble...
The husband smiled bewilderedly.
- I thought that I would make my wife happy, but so that you would start talking with joy? What pebble?
I just waved my hand.
-So I, with joy, with joy ...
Still, nothing to brag about. We swell a lot of money into gigantic construction projects, and animals and fish, trees and fields get a broken penny, and then at best. What do we have more than nature? And what will happen to us when it's gone? That's what I'm saying - nothing to brag about.
What does the expression: A broken penny is not worth?
A penny is the smallest cash coin like a Russian penny. It is clear that nothing can be bought for a penny, it is practically zero, its value is minimal.
The value is not worth a penny means that the person being addressed is not valued as a specialist and as a person as a whole, because. a penny (penny) is practically nothing, and a broken penny is absolutely not needed by anyone and its price is zero.
And as for the petition, I will say this: each person has his own opinion, but by insulting others, such a person himself shows that his moral qualities and intelligence are below the plinth.
A broken penny is a common noun for an insignificant fee, a small fee.
The expression of a broken penny is not worth saying that the product is useless, not needed, nor worth anything ...
So they say not only about things, but also the words of a person, promises, in general, about the qualities of a thing.
Broken means unusable. Here I will not discover America, but since it is necessary to answer the question posed, I have to say about it once again.
I would like to draw the attention of readers to the inflation of money, reflected in the language. A penny in modern Russian is a small coin, insignificant at face value, which is not called. Initially, in the XIII century, a thick denarius was a bargaining chip, but by no means the smallest coin. It was the predicate grossus (lat., big, fat) that distinguished new coin from less valuable ones. The word, intended to denote its special weight in comparison with other small change money, gradually began to denote its insignificance. This is one of the rare cases when, in the course of semantic derivation, a word acquired new shades of meanings that led its semantics to the opposite. Inflation, expressed in the Middle Ages in the fact that new coins were printed with old names, but used fewer precious metals and of inferior quality in nm, led to the disappearance of smaller banknotes from circulation and left the penny to the last and leanest survivors.
A question along the way: can a broken r be useful? Only in Australia, and only when it comes to banknotes. Among the first European settlers of the continent were many exiled criminals. This goal was extremely cunning in invention. To break a banknote, and then go to the bank twice and cry into the manager’s vest, having received two brand new bills instead of one and, as a result, a double amount ... A good idea, but they didn’t find justice. If you have a banknote torn right in the middle, it is considered that each part is equal to 50% of the face value. If the gap does not occur strictly in half, then a percentage of the total length is calculated and recalculated into a new denomination. If the second part is lost irretrievably, then this means a direct loss in money. This accustomed the population to the careful handling of treasury notes and tempered the inflammation of the cunning.
This expression means that the subject under discussion has absolutely no value. After all, a broken penny that had left financial circulation no longer had a purchasing power.
In Russia, there have never been pennies, but in the nineteenth century it was customary to call the smallest coin worth half a kopeck in everyday life. From there, probably, this aphorism came into our lexicon - it’s not worth a penny.
Do you know when people ask specific question, and search engines give back huge articles that you need to read and get the innermost grain out of them, then the answer of the BV-shnik, compact and in fact, is a very great help for the inquisitive and curious. This is my argument about the unfounded accusation of the petition.
Dominika, let's pass by and not be upset, because the answer to the BV is also a work, and a great one. It is not easy to be able to give a specific, reasoned, fairly short and precise answer to a question.
And now, in essence, the question about the broken penny. In Russia, in the old days, old people went from hand to hand copper coins denomination of two kopecks. After 1815, the penny became equal to a half-kopeck - a half-kopeck, that is, it depreciated. The adjective broken in this context has the meaning of bent or dented.
So it turns out that a broken penny is a bent, often worn out, old and insignificant coin when paid. She has become a symbol of poverty.
In a figurative sense, the phraseologism of a broken penny is not worth it means to have no value, no value, no good.
A penny is a small coin worth two kopecks made of iron or copper. The expression of a broken penny is not worth it or similar to it is not worth a copper penny means that someone or someone's actions are valued very low. Or you can say in another way a person or some object is worthless, has no price.
The expression broken penny does not mean a penny broken in half, but a bent or dented penny, a coin whose value is not high. Also, the coin could wear out from use, become blind and also lose its original value.
In the past, the expression A broken penny is not often used in the sense of assessing the social position of a person, emphasizing his poverty or worthlessness as a worker. In modern language, it is also used to evaluate any qualities of a person, work performed by him, clothes. But it can be a characteristic of some object, for example, a car.
It's not worth a broken penny - they usually say that it has no value. But there is a hidden catch here. The one who evaluates, is he sure that he evaluates correctly?
A groschen was traditionally called a small bargaining chip. Accordingly, in everyday life, a penny began to be called a certain insignificant amount. Broken penny, therefore - even less. And if something is not even worth a penny, then this something does not matter at all.
This expression became especially widespread at the time of the transition to silver and gold coins (which completely replaced copper and iron money from circulation fairly quickly).
To break into the past meant not only to disable or crush into pieces, but also to bend, crush. And therefore, a broken penny is not at all what is in the figure, but simply a coin of an extremely low denomination worn to the limit in the process of circulation.
It means you are of no use, most likely they said it specifically about something, maybe in some business you are not a pro, you don’t know how to do anything, you screwed up in something, so they say about you like that, I can of course say from evil.
All the answers I read under your question are correct. All my plus. But there are other analogies to this expression. For example, not worth a damned egg. The bottom line is that this is what is called sun useless. Do you need a broken coin or an egg shell with no contents inside? This is how they marked it.
By the way, in Russia, when it was still called Muscovy, there was a coin even smaller than a penny. She was called a swordsman. It cost half a penny. But a broken penny was worth nothing.
This means that the assessment of the person to whom this is addressed is 0, well, or small coin still not payable.
They are not worth a broken penny - they are not worth anything. But it doesn't concern you.
Dominica, don't worry, it's jealousy. Personally, I always answer your questions with pleasure and interest, and I read the answers. To be completely honest, but you are one of my favorite authors and your answers are very valuable. I would value them in tens and hundreds of credits every day.
The only negative: it happens that in the answers you reveal the topic too superficially (this happens to most, if not all, authors of BV). And so everything is super.
And someone, instead of answering questions, writes insulting petitions in the PM of others and greedily dreams of high accruals - I throw them in an emergency when I have a premium; and when not, I forget about their letters, and that's it - there's no point in arguing with them. Proving something is also unrealistic. Why would you need to prove...
Some individuals do not want to learn and share experience, but simply like to play on the nerves of other people - this is the reason and basis for such messages, comments and remarks.
