pin money

P

pin money

Meaning

• A small amount.
• In the olden times it was used to describe the money given to women to buy clothing for herself.
• A small sum paid for a small service.
• Something that is earned by a child.
• An earning of someone low-paid.
• Money that is small change used for incidentals.

Example Sentences

1. The maid service in this area are no longer available at pin money. You have to shell out big bucks in order to get household help.
2. I used to odd jobs when I was in high school to earn pin money.
3. My niece will babysit for you for pin money.
4. You can’t buy such a thing with pin money.
5. It’s always good to have pin money set aside when running a business.
6. The earning from this job is pin money but at least you get a good looking resume when you’ve survived here for a year.

Origin
As mentioned above, it began as the money which was paid as allowance to women so that they could make small purchases for themselves. It is no longer used in that sense. In 1542, it was used, albeit in a different form, in the work titled ‘The Testamenta Eboracensia – A Selection of Wills from the Registry at York’. The exact use of this phrase was in the work named ‘English Republic’ by J. Keble.