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A Pretty Penny

 

A Pretty Penny 


Meaning:

A Pretty Penny means A considerable profit or a large sum of money.

“Whoo, that’s gonna cost a pretty penny.”


Origin:

I know, it sounds like if you have a clean penny, it is worth more than a dirty penny, but not quite. This phrase started out a bit different, being said as 'a fine penny' or 'a fair penny' the expression came into the language in the 1700s.

We see it first being used in 1710 in a play by the popular playwright Susanna Centlivre, The Man's Bewitch'd, it reads:

“Why here may be a pretty Penny towards, if the Devil don't cross it.”


Example:

Today we still use the phrase pretty penny to say something costs a lot of money, an example sentence is:

“A fancy car like that costs a pretty penny, so I definitely can't afford it!”






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