Worth a Jew's-eye
Preserved but no longer current.
According to fable, this expression arose from the custom of torturing Jews to extort money from them. The ex- pedient of King John is well known; he de- manded 10,000 marks of a rich Jew of Bristol; the Hebrew resisted, but the tyrant ordered that one of his teeth should be tugged out every day till the money was forthcoming.
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 “Worth a Jew's-eye” mean?
According to fable, this expression arose from the custom of torturing Jews to extort money from them. The ex- pedient of King John is well known; he de- manded 10,000 marks of a rich Jew of Bristol; the Hebrew resisted, but the tyrant ordered that one of his teeth should be tugged out every day till the money was forthcoming.
Is “Worth a Jew's-eye” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.