not worth a plug nickel
1
9.6
- idiom
- Archaic
- This old car is not worth a plug nickel.
Examples
-
His old car is not worth a plug nickel anymore.
-
In that condition, the jacket you found is not worth a plug nickel.
-
She realized the antique vase was not worth a plug nickel after it cracked.
-
His opinion is not worth a plug nickel!
-
The broken watch is not worth a plug nickel.
-
Those old magazines are not worth a plug nickel anymore.
-
This damaged furniture is not worth a plug nickel.
Synonyms
8
7.2
Small and not important, usually involving little money
2
7.0
Having little or no value
1
9.9
A thing that is worth almost nothing
1
6.2
Of no value or use
1
9.9
Completely without value or use
Completely without value or use
It has very little value
Antonyms
How Worthless
- Archaic
1
9.6
273
3.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
not + worth + a + plug + nickel
The phrase contains clearly compositional elements: 'not worth' plus 'nickel' (a small coin) will lead a learner to infer low monetary value, so a B1 learner could guess something is of little worth. However, 'plug' here functions as an idiomatic/dated intensifier and the stronger sense 'completely worthless' depends on cultural/historical knowledge, so the full meaning is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
The idiom not worth a plug nickel comes from old American money. One popular story says a plug nickel was a cheap or damaged five-cent coin patched with a small 'plug', so saying something was 'not worth a plug nickel' means it was 'completely worthless'.