A.Word.A.Day --catchpenny

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Today's Word

catchpenny

PRONUNCIATION:

(KACH-pen-ee)

MEANING:

adjective: Relating to something designed to sell quickly: cheap, flashy, or sensationalistic.
noun: Something that’s designed to sell quickly.

ETYMOLOGY:

From the phrase catch a penny. Earliest documented use: 1760.

NOTES:

If you catchpenny, be gentle. If you pinch it, you’d be a pinchpenny (a stingy person). Some other penny-related terms are halfpenny, penny-ante, and god’s penny.

USAGE:

“The decades discussed in this volume were decisive in the history of modern music, and a more catchpenny author might justifiably have chosen the title ‘twenty years that changed the world’.”
Patricia Howard; Der Ganze Heartz; Musical Times (London, UK); Autumn 2009.

See more usage examples of catchpenny in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The only index by which to judge a government or a way of life is by the quality of the people it acts upon. No matter how noble the objectives of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion -- it is an evil government. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (25 Jul 1902-1983)

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