rue-bargainn.
/ˈruːbɑːɡ(ᵻ)n/, U.S. /ˈruˌbɑrɡ(ə)n/, Scottish English /ˈrubarɡ(ᵻ)n/, Irish English /ˈruːbɑːrɡ(ə)n/ Now chiefly Scottish, English regional (northern), Irish English (northern), and U.S. regional.
1. An act of going back on an arrangement; a bargain, agreement, or promise that one party regrets or reneges on; a bad bargain.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > [noun] > an agreement
forewardOE
accordc1275
covenant1297
end1297
form1297
frettec1330
conjurationc1374
treatc1380
bargainc1386
contractc1386
comenaunt1389
compositionc1405
treaty1427
pact1429
paction1440
reconventionc1449
treatisea1464
hostage1470
packa1475
trystc1480
bond (also band) of manrent1482
covenance1484
concordance1490
patisement1529
capitulation1535
conventmenta1547
convenience1551
compact1555
negotiation1563
sacrament1563
match1569
consortship1592
after-agreementa1600
combourgeoisie1602
convention1603
comburghership1606
transaction1611
end-makingc1613
obligement1627
bare contract1641
stipulation1649
accompackmentc1650
rue-bargaina1657
concordat1683
minute1720
tacka1758
understanding1803
meet1804
it's a go1821
deal1863
whizz1869
stand-in1870
gentlemen's agreement1880
meeting of minds1883
the mind > language > speech > agreement > observance > non-observance or breach > [noun] > that which is breached
rue-bargaina1657
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry IV cclxxii, in Poems (1878) IV. 69 The King..could haue beene well-pleas'd To quitt, if a Rue bargaine may be put In state.
a1666 in J. G. Nichols Topographer & Genealogist (1858) III. 106 11 Feb. 1613.—A rue-bargain of Mr. Bridgens for a lot of willowes in Milton holt.
1757 ‘T. Bobbin’ View Lancs. Dial. (ed. 6) Gloss. Rue bargain, a repenting Bargain.
1821 A. Moore Sisters II. iii. 49 Had he been in trade,..he might have had..reason to consider the time spent in dancing after me, and calculating on my possessions, in the light of a bad debt, or a rue bargain—a loss in trade, a sad speculation, &c. &c.
1839 Law Jrnl. Rep. 17 360/2 Then there was a sale; then, to a certain extent, the sale was rescinded, and money was paid for what they call a rue bargain.
1887 H. Caine Son of Hagar III. iv. ii. 193 Nay, they say that's no'but a rue-bargain, and she found out her mind after she wedded.
1944 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 2 48 Rue-bargain,..a bad bargain.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 237/1 Rue-bargain,..a bargain repented of.
1990 M. T. Inge in D. Fowler & A. J. Abadie Faulkner & Pop. Culture 28 I'm afraid that John got the worst end of this rue bargain and gave up more than he would ever know by such an agreement.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. Rue-bargain, something you wish you hadn't bought.
2. A sum paid as compensation by a person reneging on a bargain, arrangement, or promise.
ΚΠ
1814 Suppl. Grose's Prov. Gloss. in Pegge's Anecd. Eng. Lang. (new ed.) 399 Rue-Bargain, applied to something given to be off the bargain. North.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. xiv. 306 He said it would cost him a guinea of rue-bargain to the man who had bought his poney, before he could get it back again.
1844 Bamford Traveller in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1904) V Give him a shilling or two for a rue-bargain.
1859 J. S. G. Richardson Rep. Court of Appeals S. Carolina 11 534 He once inquired, if plaintiff would ‘take twenty-five dollars for a rue bargain’.
1906 M. Bateson Borough Customs II. p. lxxxii There was a tendency for earnest to become a mere rue-bargain, sometimes double the earnest being forfeited on resilement by the receiver.
1920 P. Sulley In our Burgh 135 If from special circumstances a transaction needed to be cancelled, it is customary for the one who had to cry off to pay a ‘rue bargain’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.a1657