a king's bad bargain
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Said of a soldier (or sailor) who turns out a malingerer or to be of no use; in allusion to the shilling formerly given by the recruiting sergeant to a soldier on enlistment.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “a king's bad bargain” mean?
Said of a soldier (or sailor) who turns out a malingerer or to be of no use; in allusion to the shilling formerly given by the recruiting sergeant to a soldier on enlistment.
Is “a king's bad bargain” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.