A Penny for Your Thoughts
A penny is the smallest British coin. It sits at the centre of more English idioms than almost any other coin.
A penny is a coin of small value, one hundredth of a pound in Britain or one cent in America. Its smallness made it the working unit of English idiom: *a penny for your thoughts*, *in for a penny in for a pound*, *the penny dropped*, *penny-pinching*, *spend a penny*, *a pretty penny*. Almost every one of them turns on the idea of the least amount of money worth naming. *The penny dropped* comes from coin-operated machines that only worked once the coin fell.
- A small coin. *A copper penny.*
- Pennies — the coins. *A jar of pennies.*
- Pence — a sum. *Fifty pence.*
- Penniless — with no money at all. *Penniless.*
- Old English — *penig*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | penny | One penny. |
| Plural (coins) | pennies | Pennies. |
| Plural (sum) | pence | Ten pence. |
| Adjective | penniless | Penniless. |
| Compound | penny-pinching | Penny-pinching. |
- A penny for your thoughts.Idiom.
- The penny finally dropped.Understanding.
- It cost a pretty penny.Expensive.
Penny idioms and what they mean
- The penny dropped — the meaning suddenly became clear, from slot machines
- In for a penny, in for a pound — having started, commit fully
- A pretty penny — a surprisingly large sum, said with irony
- Penny-pinching — miserly over trivial amounts
- Spend a penny — British, to use the toilet, from coin-operated public lavatories
Old English *penig* or *pening*, from a Germanic root of uncertain origin, perhaps connected to a word for a pledge.
Why do we say the penny dropped?
From coin-operated machines: nothing happened until the coin fell into place, so the phrase came to mean sudden understanding.
Where does spend a penny come from?
From British public toilets that charged a penny to unlock the cubicle door.