for a song
1
4.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
por un precio muy bajo
- She bought the old guitar for a song when the store was clearing out inventory.
- buy for a song
- pick it up for a song
Examples
-
You can get quality furniture for a song during the end-of-season clearance sales.
-
They go into liquidation; some Hollywood rich liberal type buys a bunch of the stations for a song and sets up a new network.
Blog text (32) -
You can buy lumps of hash in the markets for a song, good, rich stuff, and all sorts of drugs at the pharmacies.
Fiction book (2001) -
Millions of tons of thorium ore lie on the surface of Indian beaches, waiting to be scooped up by front loaders and hauled away to potential thorium reactors for a song.
Blog text (32) -
The project had been the brainchild of Earle "Doc" Toland, who had picked up the land for a song and built the course despite the general disparagement of the surrounding community's business leaders, most of whom thought the site far more suited to become a bass-fishing lake, or perhaps a tire vulcanizing plant, maybe even the town dump.
Fiction book (2001) -
I found this vintage shirt for a song at the thrift store.
Synonyms
1
2.7
At a much lower price than usual
Antonyms
How Cheap
450
1.0
- Informal
14
2.8
- Informal
1
4.3
40
1.0
2
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'very cheaply' does not follow from the literal meanings of 'for' + 'a' + 'song' — 'song' refers to music and gives no cue about price, and the preposition/article are neutral. This is a conventionalized idiom with a historical/metaphorical origin, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not reliably infer the idiomatic meaning.
Etymology
For a song is often explained with the image of a travelling singer who worked for small payment or food rather than money. When something cost almost as little as a singer's fee, it was said to be bought for a song, which is why the expression means 'very cheaply'.