English · Idiom Candidate

two ha'pennies for a penny

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Something is not worth the effort or cost

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

không đáng công sức hoặc chi phí

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: two halfpennies for a penny

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

I'd rather not bother, it's two ha'pennies for a penny

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent giết gà dùng dao mổ trâu use a sledgehammer to crack a nut Tiếng Việt Near equivalent use a sledgehammer to crack a nut To use excessive force to accomplish something simple English · via giết gà dùng dao mổ trâu

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Topics: Money

Common questions

What does “two ha'pennies for a penny” mean?

Something is not worth the effort or cost Literally: two halfpennies for a penny

Is “two ha'pennies for a penny” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“giết gà dùng dao mổ trâu” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.