Cavan Reflections

By: Anne Corke

Apr 15 2012

Tags: idioms, penny

Category: Rants, This and That

1 Comment

Mr Harper’s government has decided to take our penny out of circulation, referring to it as a “pecuniary pest”. How unkind! For centuries, the humble penny, the lowest denomination of Canadian coinage, has served Canadians well, not only in the financial sense but also as part of our popular culture. Have you any idea the sort of culture shock which will ensue with the demise of the penny? Will I now have to offer “a nickel for your thoughts”? For a nickel, I’ll be expecting much more. Will my fortunes take a turn for the worse when there are no lucky pennies to pick up? What on earth will I do when I have to spend a penny? And what about all those “penny” songs? Pennies from Heaven, Penny Arcade, Penny Lane! Will they fade into obscurity when people forget about pennies? What will we call all those little red-haired girls who would have been named Penny? What will we insert into our penny loafers? What will become of penny candy? (Oh, I forgot, it’s long gone!) How will we now describe that horrid acquaintance that always turns up like a bad penny? No longer will something cost a pretty penny – it’ll have to cost a lovely looney! When we finally understand what’s going on, we won’t be able to say that “the penny dropped”. But somehow “the dime dropped” just doesn’t sound right. And we definitely won’t have two pennies to rub together. But worst of all, how will we ever carry on the tradition of flattening pennies on a rail? It’s not just a penny, it’s part of our history! I, for one, will miss the lowly penny, the copper sparkle of a newly minted penny, the jingle of pennies in a jar, those lucky pennies that have surely saved me from disaster many times over the years. So let’s all pause and take a moment to remember the penny, and to mourn it’s passing, though I suspect it’ll be years before all the piggy banks are finally cleaned out! After all, a penny saved is a penny earned!