shinplaster
1
9.9
Paper money worth very little that people use as temporary cash
- noun
- /ˈʃɪnˌplæstər/
- Archaic
:
billete de poco valor
- He paid for his coffee with a shinplaster, knowing it was worth hardly anything.
Examples
-
Many traders preferred real currency over shinplasters due to their lack of reliability.
-
. . . . . out of that shinplaster courthouse they got them there .
-
No Confederate shinplasters.
-
During the 19th century, people often complained about receiving shinplasters that had little purchasing power.
Surface Forms
shinplaster singular
shinplasters plural
Morphology
Etymology
Shinplaster comes from the parts shin and plaster, where 'plaster' means 'patch' or 'bandage' for the leg. A helpful way to remember it is that people once used cheap paper as a patch on shins or boots, so small, low-value paper notes looked like useless 'patches' and shinplaster came to mean nearly worthless paper money.