in for a penny, in for a pound

in for a penny

If one has committed to doing something, one will or should do it completely, and not spare any effort. A shortening of the phrase "in for a penny, in for a pound." We can't turn in a half-finished report, so we need to stay up all night and get it done. In for a penny, in for a pound.See also: penny

in for a penny, in for a pound

If one has committed to doing something, one will or should do it completely, and not spare any effort. We can't turn in a half-finished report, so we need to stay up all night and get it done. In for a penny, in for a pound.See also: pound

in for a penny, in for a pound

Once involved, one must not stop at half-measures. For example, All right, I'll drive you all the way there-in for a penny, in for a pound. This term originally meant that if one owes a penny one might as well owe a pound, and came into American use without changing the British monetary unit to dollar. [Late 1600s] For a synonym, see hanged for a sheep. See also: pound

in for a penny, in for a pound

mainly BRITISHYou say in for a penny, in for a pound to show that you are definitely going to continue with something, even if it means more effort or money. `We probably should have stopped at that point,' Margaret says, `but we had already invested so much, and as they say, in for a penny, in for a pound.'See also: pound

in for a penny, in for a pound

used to express someone's intention to see an undertaking through, however much time, effort, or money this entails.See also: pound

ˌin for a ˈpenny, ˌin for a ˈpound

(saying) once you have decided to start doing something, you may as well do it as well as you can, even if this means spending a lot of time, energy, money, etc: The new carpet made everything else look old, so we thought ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’, and we painted the room and bought a new sofa too!See also: pound

in for a penny, in for a pound

Do not stop at half-measures; once involved, even a little, one is involved a lot. This term, which originally meant that if one owes a penny one might as well owe more, dates from the seventeenth century. Thomas Ravenscroft wrote, “Well, that, O’er shooes, o’er boots, And In for a penny, in for a Pound” (The Canterbury Guests, 1695, 5.1). It was quoted over and over. Dickens, always intrigued with debt, used it in at least three of his novels (Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop). Today it is common mostly in Britain and Ireland, where the pound is a unit of currency, but it is still occasionally heard in America.See also: pound