bad penny

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

bad penny (plural bad pennies)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bad,‎ penny: A counterfeit or damaged penny.
   • 1808, w:Edward Du Bois, “Bad Money”, in w:The Monthly Mirror, volume III New Series, London, Edinburgh: J Wright; Vernor, Hood and Sharpe; J. Murray; A. Constable & co, page 20:

     And in respect to bad halfpence he advises that none be taken at turnpikes, whose keepers buy bad halfpence by the pound, and circulate them largely on the specious principle of giving and taking–that is–they take one bad penny from a horseman to day, and when he changes a sixpence to-morrow, give him five, none of which they probably ever see again, until they are found in that quarter where they can buy them by the weight.

2. (idiomatic) A person or thing which is unpleasant, disreputable, or otherwise unwanted, especially one which repeatedly appears at inopportune times.
   • 1916, Gilbert Parker, chapter 4, in The World For Sale:

     "Felix Marchand'll have much money—bad penny as he is," continued Christine in her normal voice.

   • 1918, Rex Ellingwood Beach, chapter 17, in The Winds of Chance:

     Pierce remembered Hilda's prophecy that her indigent husband would turn up, like a bad penny.

   • 1975 June 9, R. Z. Sheppard, “Springtime for Mosley (book review)”, in Time:

     But as the perennial bad penny of British political life, he keeps turning up at embarrassing moments.

Derived terms

• a bad penny always turns up
• turn up like a bad penny

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.