Dictionary

twopenny en · ADJ

Etymology

* From two + penny. * (head): George Orwell explains this in Down and Out in Paris and London as rhyming slang: head > loaf of bread > twopenny loaf > twopenny.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Having a value or cost of twopence.
2. (not-comparable) Cheap; worthless; petty.
   • As the door slammed Pete turned to Hally, fuming. "Can you tie that? A little twopenny cold frightening him off." 1940, Woman's Home Companion, volume 67, numbers 1-4, page 134:
   • A pretty degree of knighthood, sir, is that which can be bought with sugar-hogs-heads! and then your twopenny marquisates 1888, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans, page 145:

wikipedia: Down and Out in Paris and London

twopenny en · NOUN

Etymology

* From two + penny. * (head): George Orwell explains this in Down and Out in Paris and London as rhyming slang: head > loaf of bread > twopenny loaf > twopenny.

Meanings

1. (UK, countable, dated) A coin or stamp worth two pence.
   • When the Gauls attacked Rome, he hit upon the plan of pelting the soldiers with twopennies to make them believe they had plenty to eat. 1852, Edward Litt L. Blanchard, Freaks and follies of fabledom, page 93:
2. (UK, obsolete, uncountable) Ale sold for two pence per quart.
3. (UK, countable, obsolete, slang) A person's head.
   • "It flew all to pieces; and didn't we get it! But look here, Merry, are you on?" "Yes; tuck in your twopenny." "No springing, mind." 1880, Our Boys' Paper, page 411:

Forms

Deriveds

twopennyworth · twopenny-ha'penny · twopenny-halfpenny · twopenny rope · Twopenny Tube

Relateds

tuppenny

wikipedia: Down and Out in Paris and London