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    savedsinner7's Avatar
    savedsinner7 Posts: 412, Reputation: 52
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    #1

    Oct 13, 2007, 02:38 PM
    Bad penny
    Where does the phrase "always comes back like a bad penny" come from? And what does it mean?
    Clough's Avatar
    Clough Posts: 26,677, Reputation: 1649
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    #2

    Oct 13, 2007, 02:53 PM
    I think that the phrase to which are referring might be the following one.

    A bad penny always turns up

    The proverb, also used allusively in simile and metaphor (see quot. 1766), refers to the predictable, and usually unwelcome, return of a disreputable or prodigal person after some absence.

    Like a bad penny it returnd, to me again.
    [1766 A. Adams in L. H. Butterfield et al. Adams Family Correspondence (1963) I. 55]

    Bring back Darsie? little doubt of that—the bad shilling is sure enough to come back again.
    [1824 Scott Redgauntlet II. ii.]

    Just like as not he'll be coming back one of these days, when he's least wanted. A bad penny is sure to return.
    [1884 R. H. Thorpe Fenton Family iii.]

    Who's dead, when and what did he die of? Turn up like a bad penny.
    [1922 Joyce Ulysses 149]

    'I miss Bart.' 'Oh, a bad penny always turns up again.'[1941 A. Updegraff Hills look Down vi.]

    'Stop worrying. The bad pennies always turn up.' 'Oh, Adrian, I don't think she's a bad penny, not really.'[1979 G. Mitchell Mudflats of Dead iii.]
    Related to: wrong-doers

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    N0help4u's Avatar
    N0help4u Posts: 19,823, Reputation: 2035
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    #3

    Oct 13, 2007, 03:02 PM
    Learn English Idioms - Idioms and Sayings About Money
    Originally a bad penny always turns up

    Our mistakes return to haunt us; also, nasty people have a way of reappearing.

    Started around 18th century
    One of last famous times quoted Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) in the Last Crusade "I'm like a bad penny,"
    savedsinner7's Avatar
    savedsinner7 Posts: 412, Reputation: 52
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    #4

    Oct 13, 2007, 03:26 PM
    So what is a bad penny?

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