Penny-poet, subs. phr. (old).—A reproach; a gutter rhymester.—Kemp, Dance to Norwich (1601).
Penny-pots, subs. phr. (common).—Pimples
on the face of a hard
drinker.
Penny-royal, adj. (American).—Poor;
common; inferior.
Penny-starver (or -buster), subs.
phr. (common).—A penny roll,
or bun.
Penny-wedding, subs. phr. (Old
Scots').—See quot. 1897.
1822. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel, xxvii. We'll have a' to pay . . . a sort of penny-wedding it will prove, where all men contribute to the young folks' maintenance.
1897. Brewer, Phrase and Fable, s.v. Penny-wedding. Wedding banquets in Scotland, to which a number of persons were invited, each of whom paid a small sum of money not exceeding a shilling. After defraying the expenses of the feast, the residue went to the newly-married pair, to aid in furnishing their house. Abolished in 1645.
Penny-weight, subs. (American).—See
quot.
1890. Daily Chronicle, 1 Dec. Wright and two American women . . . had pleaded guilty to . . . stealing . . . jewellery from the shops of jewellers in the City and the West-end. . . . Wright was well known as a penny-weight thief in America, which was explained as a thief who devoted his attention to robberies of this description.
Penny-white, adj. (old).—See
quot.
c.1696. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Penny-white, said of her to whom Fortune has been kinder than Nature.
Pennyworth (or Penn'orth),
subs. (colloquial).—One's money's-worth;
a right equivalent; what's
owing and more: A good penny-worth
= a royal bargain: cf.
Robin Hood's pennyworth;
to cast pennyworths = to
count the cost.—B. E. (c.1696);
Grose (1785).
1534. Udall, Roister Doister, iv. vii. 75 [Arber]. I will haue some peny-worth, I will not leese [lose] all.
1588. Marprel. Epistle, 27 [Arber]. If you deny me this request I will . . . haue my peniworths of them for it.
1600. Shakspeare, Much Ado, ii. 3. We'll fit the kid fox with a peny-worth.
1605. Chapman, All Fools, ii. I do not doubt, But t'have my pennyworths of these rascals one day.
1678. Dryden, Prol. to Œdipus, 33. You needs will have your penn'orths of the play, And come resolved to damn, because you pay.
1695. Locke, Reas. of Chr. [Ency.]. The priests sold the better pennyworths, and therefore had all the custom.
1713. Swift, Journal to Stella, 25 March, 62. The bishop . . . has bought abundance of pictures, and Dr. Pratt has got him very good pennyworths.
1717. Cibber, Non-Juror, iv. Col. One would think the villain suspects his footing . . . is but short-lived: he is in such haste to have his pennyworths out on't.
1724. Defoe, Tour thro' East. Counties, 21. It is very good farming in the marshes, because the landlords let good pennyworths.
1748. Montague [Dodsley, Poems, iii. 287]. Behold this equipage by Mathers wrought. With fifty guineas (a good pen'orth!) bought!
1757. Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac, f. 1758. Many have been ruined by buying good pennyworths.
1771. Smollett, Humph. Clinker [Gibbings (1900), i. 54]. Mistress said, if I didn't go, I should take a dose of bum-taffy; and so remembering how it worked Mrs. Gwyllim a penn'orth, I chose rather, &c.
1860. Eliot, Mill on Floss, iii. vi. My mother gets a good penn'orth in' picking feathers an' things.
